Melissa and Doug Food Groups Reviews

• Wonderful wooden food set for pretend play

  
  By A1LCQHX7SIAKHA on 2006-10-16
  We bought this set of play food for our 2 yr old to go with her new kitchen after being disappointed with the low quality of plastic food sets. We all love this set. The pros: very sturdy and made to last, takes a beating/frequent use, set includes a little bit of everything, comes with handy wooden baskets to store them in (or your child's rock collection, which our child now uses them for!). Cons = foods are a little old school - certainly not realistic, they are much louder than plastic (esp. when dropped on hardwood floors). Overall, we recommend these as a nice alternative to plastic foods and cardboard boxes that will be dented and destroyed quickly.
  
  

• Great products

  
  By A2FSPEEQSF1D3L on 2007-01-09
  My kids (ages 2, 4, 6 and 8) love this wooden pretend food. It's much better made than the plastic stuff and doesn't come with a bunch of worthless pieces, like cardboard cereal boxes that don't last more than a few hours.
  
  

• Great Imaginative Play

  
  By A1EUKXWNI49JVD on 2007-01-11
  I purchased this food set for Christmas from "Santa" for my daughter who is almost 2. Both she and her brother LOVE to play with this and it has really added a lot of fun to their existing kitchen. Sturdy, heavy duty pieces that will not disappoint. Not surprising from Melissa and Doug.
  
  

• Melissa & Doug

  
  By A302UO1YH7B45D on 2007-01-15
  I would definitely purchase the M&D food group as well as any other M&D product. It is made of wood & of better quality construction than other wood play food toys. My daughter likes that it's easy to play w/ (has a heavier weight & proportionate size) and realistic. We soon noticed a crack on a bun top, but a call to M&D quickly resolved the problem & we soon had a replacement & an additional food item @ no charge. Unsure if the crack ocurred during shipping or after our receipt.
  
  

• Very nice

  
  By AYS82I3Z814TY on 2008-09-25
  I wanted good wooden pretend food (hate plastic toys) and I wanted a nice starter selection for a good price without having to buy, say, a separate veggie or fruit set. This is a basic food groups set so you get (4) little wooden crates filled with meats, veggies-n-fruits, dairy, and grains.
  
  That said, after receiving the product, I can confirm that buying separate sets would have yielded superior pretend food, but would have quadrupled the investment. Besides, the kids love it and engage in all the rich, imaginative and independent play parents love to peripherally watch while reading the newspaper or something.
  
  In summary,
  Pros:
  -All wood, nice all-in-one selection
  -Kids like it a lot
  
  Cons:
  -Made in China
  -All the produce is smaller than life-size -- even the egg and lemon (whereas the individual sets include many life-size items)
  -Paint from some of the produce arrived scuffed onto other produce (enough to induce a mildly annoyed "come-on" but not enough to initiate a return or obsess over)
  
  
• Food Groups
  By A1FPD4BK81JLTV on 2007-11-19
  I bought this product based on the great reviews I found on the internet. I did not want a ton of food to clutter the house and I wanted something that would withstand two very active kids. The pieces are small, light weight and beautifully crafted.
  
  
  
• Great Set!
  By ASDIUF0SHMRLF on 2008-11-19
  My son loves this set. The only downfall is that the orange is just a painted ball and has been permanently taken away due to throwing. The same is about to happen with the lemon, egg and tomato. So, if you have a thrower in your house, beware! They are solid pieces and hurt! Other than that, love it! My son loves to make burgers and hot dogs (no bun with the hot dog though). He also loves to go to the "store" and "buy" milk and bananas. Love the set, and the crates the food comes in!
  
  
• Food Groups toys
  By A3SUSXLYXKWKTE on 2007-01-09
  Melissa and Doug Food Groups wood toys are excellent in quality. They are durable enough to last a life time. Children love to play with them and pretend they are serving meals.
  
  
• Wonderful
  By A2OIC1A5BUE9BA on 2007-03-13
  My 4-years old son absolutely loves this set and plays with it all the time. It is one of his favorites. He uses the "food" for cooking or for selling in his little grocery store, as well as carries it around in his backpack all the time. Considering its extensive use over the past few months, I have noticed only minor chipping, so I would say it is quite durable. Highly recommended.
  
  
• Good, but for one detail...
  By A13LK2HKPXA81U on 2008-01-01
  My son has a great deal of fun playing with this food with his play kitchen, the one problem is this... the food is not washable. One piece of the set got dropped into some real spagetti and when I washed it off, the paint/coating started peeling off, so I just had to throw it away.
  
  
• Three for Three!
  By A17VA9AOZH5I1W on 2007-12-13
  This was the third Melissa and Doug product I bought at this time and I think it's great. My little two year old was telling me all day what the different foods were. So it's educational for one learning to talk! It will be very durable because it's made of wood and it has all the right things in it. Great set!
  
  
• Play food
  By AZ4GV2KE0C4HY on 2007-12-28
  Excellent quality! My 4-year old and almost 2-year old have enjoyed these food items a lot. We just put their play kitchen together, so it will be fun to watch them use the food to cook. Would highly recommend this item.
  
  
• We love Melissa and Doug!!!
  By A2MPCKLHXG6M3H on 2007-12-29
  My daughters received a play kitchen for Christmas and this toy is the perfect compliment! The little crates fit perfectly in the refrigerator and my oldest daughter loves to make hamburgers and steak for her dad. We have lots of Melissa and Doug toys in our house (pizza set, birthday cake, lacing beads, etc) and this toy doesn't disappoint!
  
  
• Melissa and Doug Wooden Food Group toy.
  By A3TZC9G53AUM06 on 2008-01-10
  Our granddaughter LOVES this. We bought it for her to go with a wonderful kitchen set (stove, sink, refrigerator) and she plays with it constantly. She is 18 months old, and is learning the names of different foods. This was a perfect gift for her.
  
  
• My granddaughter loved this.
  By A2KSITKUQUUV9T on 2008-01-12
  We gave this to my granddaughter for her second birthday. Her parents gave her a toy kitchen and as soon as she opened the "food" she identified each piece and went over to "cook" her hot dog. The pieces are large enough not to be a choking hazard but small enough to fit small hands for play. They allow her imagination to soar and that to me is the mark of a good toy.
  
  
• Small pieces...
  By AER5RN8NDEP1X on 2008-02-29
  I purchased this play food for my son who is 18 months old. I guess it's probably my fault for not reading more about the actual sizes of the pieces. I just took out the pieces I felt were too small for my son right now. Aside from the small pieces, it is all actually really cute. I do feel like plastic play food might be a better deal. This is probably the only Melissa and Doug product I have ever gotten that I feel was not up to my liking.
  
  
• Cute idea, but not well thought
  By A4ZS2AJ4JGCST on 2008-03-19
  We bought these for our 5 year old daughter and 18 month old son for their play kitchen. Since we have an APO address, this is one of the only play food items that would ship here, so we chose it. I was a little aprehensive about the food being of wood. I guess with good reason too. Since they are wood and painted, they chipped and paint was scraped off with in the first few days, even when returning them to the wooden baskets that they came in. My children are relatively good with toys and take good care of their things. I would hate to see what these would look like after a week with rough playing children. Again, they are cute, but not for us.
  
  
• we love this toy
  By AYM0AXYB6FGIG on 2008-04-13
  My 18 month old twins love "cutting" with the wooden knives. As fast as I can put the items back together, they are cutting them up. I bought the sandwich making set too so they could each have their own knife, and these toy sets are even more fun together. Keeps them busy, and comes with it's own storage container to keep all the pieces from getting lost. Love it.
  
  
• Best Toy Foods
  By A3A5K77PO2J3AL on 2008-04-14
  As with all Melissa and Doug products, this one is well crafted and durable. I don't think my kids could break these pieces if they tried. I also love the focus on the food groups, and "whole foods", using that term loosely, versus other sets which include a lot of junk foods and processed foods. Great product.
  
  
• Fun and educational
  By ANG8NS7FA4D2W on 2008-05-09
  This is a fabulous way to help children understand and separate the food groups in a way that is really fun. My son and I shared this set with his preschool class, and it was the most popular activity of the day! We love Melissa and Doug products, and recommend them whenever we can!
  
  
• great value
  By A1USNWPDYS023Q on 2008-06-24
  I bought this for my girls (ages 3, 1 and 1) for Christmas. It's now June, and they're still playing with it! They love it! The pieces are very durable, and I have not yet seen any paint chipping off. The pieces are made of solid wood, so I was concerned about them being used as "weapons" against each other (lol), but that hasn't happened so far! The little wooden crates, however, break very easily. One of ours was damaged when we got it, and another fell apart soon after. Overall I would say it was money well spent.
  
  
• my kids love it!!!
  By ASNJJPHAB2EXZ on 2008-07-14
  I bought this for my kids as we are are doing a unit of food groups. They love it and it is in the toy kitchen! They have more fun making a picnic but they now know how to divide the foods into the proper baskets!!!
  
  
• Fun Food
  By AHJ3JKTDXT0VS on 2008-07-26
  My granddaughter loved it and so did the adults. The only problem was a mis-shipment which delayed its arrival a few days. It's very educational as well as indestructible.
  
  
• Lasts and lasts
  By AHRNDSKWH1YBT on 2008-08-03
  The nice thing about Melissa and Doug wooden toys is that they will last through many children, light and hard play and will be enjoyed for a long time.
  
  My set is about 5 years old. It has been through 2 kids and is now currently getting a good beating from an overzealous 19 month old. He bangs them and tosses them and uses the food to bowl with.
  
  We play identify the food, we serve each other and then learn to clean up. Very cool toys.
  
  
• Paint Comes Off Easily
  By A18NS13E297I2B on 2008-08-11
  I bought this food set thinking the wooden version would be more durable, safer, etc... than the plastic food. However, the paint chips off in large pieces every time it is dropped. I don't feel that it is safe because my son gets paint chips on his hands, could eat them, and is tempted to peel off more paint from the toys as they chip. They look great initially, but I would not recommend them.
  
  

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