Customer Reviews

Melissa & Doug Food Groups

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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)

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

I loved the idea of this product. Very educational (sorting the food into their food groups) and nice looking, realistic, healthy foods. I was very dissapointed however with the quality of the product. The tomato (which is a sphere) got a huge crack in it, and quite a few of the other foods had knicks and cracks. I returned the product and now hesitate buying Melissa and Doug foods. I should say that we do own many Melissa and Doug products already, but this one might have changed our mind about the workmanship of the wood for little children.

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.