Description

The Cutting Food Box from Melissa and Doug contains eight pieces of wooden food, a cutting board and a wooden knife. With 31 pieces, this pretend play food set offers a great way to introduce the concepts of part, whole and fractions! And, the food makes a fun "CRUNCH" sound when sliced.

Customer Reviews

 My little kitchen helper - Sep 01, 2010

This toy is fantastic. I keep this in one of my bottom drawers in the kitchen. My son will take it out while I'm preparing for a meal and cut along with me. He was only 1 1/2 when we purchased this toy and caught on very quickly. The nice thing is that the pieces range in difficulty. The loaf of bread and watermelon are pretty easy to cut while the slices of bread and lime (or pepper or whatever it is) are more difficult. He is almost 2 and still using the set and it seems to have taught him how to cut and hold the pieces very well. And of course it helped me keep him busy while I was trying to get food on the table. As far as the durability goes, the wood pieces hold up very well. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because the velcro does start to wear after use making the pieces very easy to get apart.
* As a side note, we also have the cookie set and he doesn't play with it nearly as much. Not sure if it is too much of the same thing or he just doesn't like it.

 2 YR OLD LOVES - Aug 31, 2010

My daughter received this for her 2nd birthday...she LOVES it!!! I think this is good for her fine motor skills working on using the knife.

 I give up... - Aug 27, 2010

People all say they love this toy. I bought it about 1.5 years ago. I have tried to like it, as my daughter got older I hoped my feelings about it would improve, but they haven't (She is 4 and my son is 18 months). It is cute and maybe for an older child who likes puzzles it would be great, but the way that it has to be put together is not easy for a small child. Some pieces have two sides of the same type of velcro and if you misplace those, the rest of the pieces are useless. It also makes it hard for little ones to get it together correctly. My kids do enjoy playing with the little pieces, so it hasn't been a total waste, but I always end up having to put them back together and search for the parts all over the house. I feel similarly about the sandwich kit. The cookies and the cake are great. I also have the 4 food groups and I wish I had ordered two of those instead of this.

 Best toy for ages 18 months and up - Aug 25, 2010

My daughter loves it, and it is the first toy she goes to instantly. Great for developing fine motor skills,to learn colors, fruit/vegetables, and even putting "sandwiches" together. Highly recommend, a favorite in out house!

 My 3 year old loves it! - Aug 07, 2010

We got this for our 3 year old last Christmas. It has had a ton of use since then, and I enthusiastically recommend the cutting food box to other parents! Pieces are painted pretty bright colors and they are sturdy. My daughter and I especially love the satisfying "crunch" noise made when you "slice" the pieces apart with the wooden knife. Putting them all back together again is fun, too. The storage box is an added bonus, however, it would be even better if there was some kind of lid on the top. All-in-all, the set is great value for money! Oh, one more thing: you may look at this and think "my kid is too old/will get bored with this - it's too simple to hold his/her attention." Nope. I had the same concern - that it would not hold the interest of my 3 year old. In fact, it's the simplicity of the set and refreshing lack of gimmicks that make this (and other Melissa & Doug toys) so wonderful for toddlers and preschoolers. Buy it!

 Lots of fun for hours - Aug 07, 2010

My little one, 21mo old, loves this toy. She is learning to count and we count the pieces as we cut them. She loves to cut the food and then pretend to eat it. It was one of the first real pretend play moments I observed. I watch a four year old little girl and it was her favorite toy too. I know that this toy will grow with my little one as she does. It is so nice I was shocked at how inexpensive it was. The food is good size and the cutting board looks like mine. A wonderful toy that I know will be fun for years to come.

 Concerned - Aug 05, 2010

Melissa & Doug sound like they live next door. I was disappointed to learn that all their toys are made in China. I am still worried about lead paint and don't trust Chinese regulation/enforcement.

 Great for 2-year-old! - Jul 24, 2010

Got this for a 2 year old and it's already a huge hit! She is big into play cooking/kitchen activities and this was a large, easy to handle durable set for her. The concept of cutting up the food was new to her and she is always curious to learn more. This will have much value for repeated play.

 Great for fun and motor skills - Jul 14, 2010

I use to play with something similar to this when I was little. My mom recently bought this set for my daughter who is now almost two. It's not something I keep out all the time but works great for those moments when she needs a break from the day. She loves it, plus it really causes her to settle down and focus. It is great for her small motor skills plus the chopping noises are great. She loves it and so do I.

 A"peeling" - Jul 12, 2010

Every child who has entered our house to visit has sat down and played with this cutting toy. Without fail, they have seemed happy and engaged for a long period of time. With a satisfying snap, the little food pieces fall apart and can be served to hungry playmates. Even the yougest of children (ages 1-3) can be helped to coordinate the cutting by guiding their little hands helping to improve their coordination and offering them the satisfaction that they can slice everything up and then place all the segments back together again. Providing practice with an adult skill is highly rewarding. The quality is excellent and the details and wood finish great.

 Sam - Jun 24, 2010

It's a excellent toy for a toddler. My daughter loves making sandwiches and bring them to me. Will recommend to everyone.

 good quality toy - Jun 07, 2010

so glad to have nice solid wooden food rather than plastic food. the smell was really strong when we opened the package but my 3-year old daughter really enjoys them. the velcro is really strong, almost too strong for her to cut, but i've seen from the set at our library that it will soften up. it's just been one day but it seems like a great toy and we're happy with the purchase.

 Great toy for 2-3 year-olds - May 27, 2010

This was my 2.5 year-old's favorite toy at preschool, so we bought one for home. He loves cutting up the vegetables. It's good for practicing coordination, counting, colors, etc.

 LOVES IT!! - May 20, 2010

We got this for our 22 month old daughter and she just loves this! She took to it right away no questions asked, in her top 5 to play with! Very well made, we love this company.

 Totally Awesome Fun Food - Mar 28, 2010

Love this toy! Great for teaching young children how to slice food. Great fun children will love slicing and dicing this food again and again! So much fun to pretend you are actually preparing and then serving this yummy wooden food!

 Bought it for a gift but kept it - Mar 25, 2010

I bought 3 sets of Melissa and Doug cutting food to use as gifts. I remember my friend praising their cutting food and I was looking for a gift that wasn't just run-of-the-mill. When I opened the box my 2-year-old freaked out. We ended up keeping one of the crates of food for her and I had to order another for the birthday party. My 2-year-old loves it! At first I wasn't sure if she was going to be able to use the "knife" but she got it down within about 5 minutes. She loves to make everyone "salad". I'm sold on Melissa and Doug products.

 great toy - Mar 20, 2010

I bought this (and pizza cutting toy) for my nephew's 2nd year birthday. He's almost 4 now and when I last visited, he was still playing with it. The veggies and bread are fun and it comes with a pretend knife and it makes a cool noise when you cut the food. When I was cutting real veggies in the kitchen, I told him to pull up a chair and bring his food so that he could work with me. He cut along with me and he enjoyed it b/c it made him feel like an adult.

 Really fun. - Mar 11, 2010

This toy is really fun and it has been helping my two year old learn his fractions! He has learned how to do 'half' an 'quarter' and 'thirds' with this toy, and knows all the names too. Very fun! I want to get him the rest of the food to

 Great for kids of all ages! - Feb 26, 2010

I ordered this toy for my granddaughter who was celebrating her 4th birthday. It was obvious her 9 year old brother liked it as well, as he was slicing and dicing with it before she even had a chance to finish opening her other gifts. Three weeks later and it is still their favorite toy to play with together. My grandkids are always wanting to help out in the kitchen when I'm cooking and this toy gives them the opportunity to practice their technique on one of the things I won't let them do yet. I highly recommend this toy and feel that the Melissa & Doug collection of toys will be a favorite of children for years to come. Since ordering this set, I have ordered two more different sets and they were a hit as well.

 My Two Year Old Son LOVES THIS TOY - Feb 17, 2010

They use a very similar toy to this at the Montessori School I am looking at enrolling my son, when I found it on amazon I couldn't resist purchasing it. HE ABSOLUTELY LOVES IT! It is great for his hand eye coordination, learning real world applications on how to cut his own food, and problem solving (while he is putting the fruit back together). I would HIGHLY recommend this toy for a boy or girl, it is a great teaching tool while the kids are having fun.

 Loads of fun - Feb 13, 2010

This toy is amazing....Not only my daughter but I also love this toy!! Whoever thought of this idea of making this toy with Velcro on it, was really creative. It is priced o.k and is very durable. Also I gifted this toy to my nephew and he loves it too. You will not be disappointed buying this toy.

 Cutting Food Box - Feb 03, 2010

This toy not only teaches kids their foods, but also teaches them how to cut and connect!!!

 Wonderful Toy! - Jan 24, 2010

My little boy received this toy as a gift when he was about14 months. He plays with it everyday. He loves to name the foods and practice cutting the different items. He is 2 years old now and still uses the toy. He plays with the toy while I am cooking. He likes to pretend that he is cooking with me! The toy looks like new even after the daily handling.

Older cousins have been to the house and love playing with the food too!

It is pretty enough to leave on the coffee table! :)

 Great toy for playing and learning - Jan 21, 2010

This was a gift this year for my 2 year old nephew and 3 year old niece. Although they are a year apart, they both really enjoyed playing with the food. This offers math lessons;learning fractions. My niece made sandwiches all day Christmas day for our family. She would take everyones order, watermelon? Carrot? Do you want bread, too? So cute!

 Brilliant toy, love M&D - Jan 20, 2010

I bought this for our 19-month-old son who loves to watch us cook and says, "hold knife" (which, of course, we can't let him do). We bought the M&D pantry and fridge products as the first foods for the play kitchen he got at Christmas, but should have bought this. This is a great set for "cutting up" foods and putting into M&D pots and pans "to cook." If you can't tell, pieces are velcroed together. The velcro seems very securely fastened. It's so clever the way the knife works to "cut" the food. He loves it--although cutting some food is easier than cutting others for him (cutting the baguette is easy; the tomato, not so much--he's only 19 months!). One piece of the white bread did split in two with the grain of the wood (I was really surprised; it seemed so durable), but I called M&D and they replaced it without any hassle. The Customer Service there is great.