How to Make a Cardboard Kitchen for Kids

How to Make a Cardboard Kitchen for kids

I made this Cardboard Play Kitchen for my son a couple years ago.  It is relatively simple to make yourself and inexpensive. I started by opening the box so that it laid flat & then painted the side without any printing on it with white paint. After a few coats, I painted a few coats of Mod Podge over it to make it more durable. Mod Podge acts like a sealant/protecting finish so if anything accidentally spilled on it, it could easily be wiped up and not damage it. To make it more sturdy, I used white colored duct tape on all the edges as well as anywhere I made cuts for doors & drawers.

To make the burners for the stove, I cut 4 cardboard circles, painted them black & then again with Mod Podge, and then hot glued them on top of the DIY oven. The hot glue did not hold it in place very well so I would suggest using something else. I also placed a cutting board on the top for them to pretend cut stuff on top of.

DIY Kids Oven from Cardboard

To make the oven area, I cut 3 sides with a razor {the tool kind.... lol!}. On the uncut part where the door bends, I placed white duct tape to help prevent the wear & tear from opening & closing it. This door ended up being such a 'Busy Activity' for my daughter when she was a baby all the way until we got rid of it when she turned 1. Inside, I crafted some oven racks. I made an upside-down, square U shape & taped it in place. I also did the on the the side where the pretend cabinet door was to make a shelf.

The pretend drawer is a child-sized shoe box. I traced the outline and cut out the square hole. I ended up having to rig up a supporting shelf made from cardboard underneath where the drawer was- it was tricky, but without it the drawer ended up falling down when the kids placed stuff in it.

The pretend oven controllers & drawer knobs were made from juice lids & soda bottle lids. The soda lids are painted red and hot glued into place. The oven controllers were put on with a screw and washers left a little loose so that the kids could turn them like a real oven! I also wrote degrees for the oven and Hi, Lo, and Lite on the stove burner knobs.

I happened to have white shelf liner on hand, so I cut it to size and placed it on their pretend shelves. To make the oven door look like glass, I cut up a  plastic bag and taped it on the inside part of the door {the thick, plastic/vinyl bags that bedding usually comes in}. I also attempted an oven handle, but that didn't last very long! A towel rack would have been cute too!

Cardboard Kids Kitchen Tutorial

The kids loved it so much; especially my then baby girl, that my brother ended up buying my daughter one for her 1st birthday. Of course Big Brother plays with it all the time too!

What fun things have you made from cardboard or other recycled materials? We would love for you to share in the comments- links welcome as well!

I am linking up this post to these awesome parties!