Melissa & Doug Cook's Corner Wooden Toy Kitchen

This is easily one of my son's favorite things to play with. He is only 15 months old, but manages to put in some serious play time with it. The set comes in a flat pack box (a la IKEA style where you put it together.) The box is fairly heavy, so make sure you have help moving it around to get it to a good large place to open and assemble it. I say large because once you start unpacking it the thing seems to double in size with all the packing materials and parts and pieces. // ASSEMBLY I assembled this in our living room while my 12-month old son roamed around. I say this because it took me about twice as long to assemble it, but still was only about an hour from opening the box to finish. A side note: as it started to come together and get the doors on it, he really got stoked on it and couldn't wait to play with it. That made it fun putting it together. You are going to need a medium sized Phillips screw driver. There's a small flat wrench included, but a screwdriver is mandatory. No hammering required. // INSTRUCTIONS The instructions are pretty good, and easy to follow. The parts are all labeled with stickers, and together I don't think you even need to know English to accomplish building this thing. There are no choices when building it. Meaning, it only goes together one way. It's not like you get to choose if the "oven" is on the left or right. The hardest thing to put together was screwing the timer to the shelf. Really, I almost gave up, but finally got it screwed in. // QUALITY I think this kitchen is quite sturdy. I could stand on top of it without worrying it would crumble (though, I don't recommend it.) All of the corners and edges are finished so no worry of splinters. The red paint is interesting in that is comes off on our vertical blinds as they rub against it. It also rubs off on the walls. Not sure what's up with that, but I am not worried about it. The doors are surely going to be the first thing broken. The hinges are surprisingly solid and sturdy, but still a weak point in that they are only screwed in with very short screws. Also, they are the thing my son plays with the most, opening and slamming them a billion times a day. // TIPPING OVER My son hasn't tipped it over yet, but it CAN tip. And is quite heavy. I recommend placing this against a wall and strapping it to the wall with a shelf/earthquake safety strap. The front of the kitchen is curved, and I'm beginning to think that it might be a good thing since the space is about the size of a small child and could be a saving grace if it tipped forward onto them. // BUY AGAIN? Yes, I would. It's a great toy that may stand the test of time and be able to be handed down to friends.