Review: New Sprouts Stir Fry and Waffle sets for combining learning and imaginative play

When Daddy T was in the study doing some work the other day he must have felt like he was practically in the City. There was a take-away lunch stall downstairs selling his regular workday lunch for a very reasonable price.

Three-year-old Big Girl had made a delicious looking £5 stir-fry packed in a take-away box and served with a fortune cookie on the side. For dessert, she was making yummy waffles with butter, strawberries and maple syrup.

It was a day of first class pretend cooking.

Big Girl had received the New Sprouts Stir Fry Set (£23.94) and New Sprouts Waffle Time set (£26.34) from Learning Resources to review, and to give her some background on the new sets, I had explained to her that Daddy T would usually get a take-away for lunch.

She got very excited, stirring in vegetables in her wok, using tongs to put everything in the container and running up the stairs to the study to deliver a take-away to her first pretend food customer of the day.

Despite having a range of traditional pretend food from before, she didn’t have different international food like this, and I like the unique packs available in the educational and fun New Sprouts imaginative play series.

The Stir Fry Set includes a range of vegetables, teaching children about healthy eating, and I particularly like that the set includes tongs, promoting fine motor skills. Big Girl is using the tongs like an expert, but not knowingly doing an developmental exercise. I also think the fortune cookie is another lovely touch, which has resulted in the two of us talking about different countries and cultures.

With our own Scandinavian background, the waffle set is excellent for us, as Big Girl often sees me making Norwegian-style waffles, and she often wants to get involved. The American-style waffle iron and the four chunky waffle pieces she now has will be more than enough for now though, as the New Sprouts iron is not dangerously hot like mine.

As long as everyone in the family is happy to eat some sturdy plastic waffles, which can be easily cleaned if they were to get dirty, I think our preschooler has all she needs for a fun day in this Christmas!

New Sprouts pretend play sets from Learning Resources are ideal for children between the ages of 2 and 6, and the sets include durable, washable and bright coloured pieces, which are easy for young children to grip

Tags: Child development, Fine motor skills, Learning Resources, Pretend food, Pretend play, Stir Fry, Tongs, Toys, Waffle, Wok