With four settings, I don't get as tired of listening to this toy as I do others each setting has different phrases and music that keep it interesting for the child and adult. I don't think he'll play with it for too much longer, but we will probably get it out again as soon as our next child can sit up.
After reading other reviews, I also wanted to say that our son has never pinched his fingers in the door and spends a good amount of time opening, closing, and moving the kitchen around. He used to pinch his fingers all the time in our real kitchen cabinets, so maybe this is a live and learn thing.
The only thing I would change is a way to keep it closed and a handle so it could be moved around with the pieces inside.
UPDATE: My son continued to play A LOT with this toy until he was 26 months old and we bought him a Kidkraft wooden kitchen. Even then he still played with this for a few weeks until I finally put it away. Granted, he is very into kitchen/cooking type activities, but I really think you can't go wrong with this toy from about 6 months and on, for boys or girls! We spent many hours playing with this together.I was hesitant to buy this toy after reading reviews about babies' fingers getting smashed. I'm a hand surgeon, so the whole smashing fingers thing goes against most of my principles! However, the kitchen looked so fun that I thought I'd give it a shot, and return it if the risk was real. I closely supervised my 8 month old for a few weeks she totally loved all the songs and sound effects, but never got fingers caught anywhere. Though, her favorite thing to do is swipe down all the "groceries" (comes with milk, carrots, and ketchup) that I stack on the shelf of the fridge door.
I tried to close my own fingers in the door, and really couldn't figure out how this could smash fingers. I compared the toy we received to the one in the manufacturer pics ... the door has been redesigned since those pics were taken (I'm assuming in response to the finger-smashing thing). You can see the difference in multiple pictures, but especially the 4th one from the left on the Amazon site that's kind of an oblique view with the door closed. The white part of our door is cut so that there's a 2 inch segment that can actually touch the blue base, but the remainder of the door has a space so that fingers can't get caught.
Reviewers also commented that their kids knocked the kitchen over. My little girl did that a few times at first when she didn't know how to swing to door of the fridge open on the hinge. Once she figured it out, it didn't topple except when she pushed it over on purpose we can tell by her giggles and proud face. I only gave 4 stars because the "range" on the first kitchen we got didn't play music when you pressed it. The range on the second one worked, but the ball above it that you roll (which happened to be one of her fave parts of the first fridge) didn't play music reliably. So, a little lacking on the quality control, but still worth it once you get one that is fully functional.
If you have Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby's First Blocks, the round, triangular, and square blocks from this set also fit through the door in the fridge part of the kitchen!
Just noticed the current selling price is the retail price... I happened to get this for 40-50% off, which is a good value and what I think the toy is actually worth. Not sure that it's worth the full retail value, especially when I've gone through 2 that don't work 100%.
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This toy REALLY held my 10 month olds interest, she loves it BUT she has smashed her fingers twice in less than a week! It opens and closes too easily, the fridge door is too light compared to the sink side and when slightly moved one side always falls shut on the other. Since she likes to move it around her little hands keep getting caught. All babies are curious and cannot be expected to leave a toy sitting where you leave it. Since she is so entertained with it we took the center hinge out so that she can still play with the two separate parts.Read Best Reviews of Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn: Learning Kitchen Here
I read on the saftey issues other people had and adjusted the toy:Put the hard side of velcro on the bottom of the toy so it will "cacth" on carpet. This will hold the toy in place and it wont topple over as easily. If you have hard wood, simply apply the soft side of the velcro to where your child plays with the toy (its just tape and will come off when cleaned). As for the pinching finger, if you have the toy on foam flooring, it makes it not so easy to close the fridge door.. child hasnt pinched fingers for the months she has played with it.
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This is a very cute toy. My 1 year old daughter got it for her bday and enjoys playing with it. The only real issue with it is that the two sides fold up too easily and her fingers get caught in between the two pieces and she of course cries. I've taken it away from her for now until she gets older or we figure out a solution to it not closing on her fingers. I've read some reports of the same thing happening to other little ones so I'm not alone on this.
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