For Children in the Kitchen

     The wooden kitchen made by Angel and Elves held a beloved place in our house when Liam was growing up. He became the baker, the chef, then the restauranteer during those many hours working away in front of that kitchen. Seeds got planted in front of that kitchen that he carries with him today as a student cooking gluten-free for himself at Brown University.

          Remembering the importance of kitchen play, we are happy to announce the arrival of our latest children's aprons, oven mitts and chef hats! What we love about this new apron is that even the youngest children can put it on and take it off by themselves, helping to build independence, self esteem and confidence. It has an elastic neck strap which slides over the head easily and a back strap which closes with velco. There are no ties to think about. The pattern is adapted from Meg McElwee's Child's Apron from her wonderful blog: www.sewliberated.typepad.com. We love this apron so much we are making it in four charming fabrics: Childs Apron in Green Apples, Childs Apron in Red Cherries, Childs Apron in Tie-Dye Print and Childs Apron in Pink Posies.

 

           I always had a step up stool next to the kitchen counter so Liam could join right with me in preparing food, cooking and baking. To help complete the cook's outfit are the necessary oven mitts. We now make oven mitts to match all of our aprons. Our child's mitts have the same  quilted shape and look as the oven mitts we make for Mom & Dad. We have scaled down our adult oven mitts (made from an antique pattern) to a size which comfortably fits young hands from age 3 up to 8 or maybe 9.

     We make two different versions of our mitts. One is quilted with a soft layer of 100% cotton batting, perfect for pretend play. For the young one ready to work with handling hot items in the kitchen with supervision, we also make this size child's mitt with an additional heat resistant layer of Insul-Bright just like our adult oven mitts.

    

     To top it all off, we had to make a chef hat. Isn't it wonderful how simply putting on a hat can transform us into a role? We make this hat in three different colors to coordinate with all our aprons: Childs Chef Hat in Green, Childs Chef Hat in Pink, and Childs Chef Hat in Yellow.
      Imagine your young one donning an apron, hat and a pair of oven mitts and becoming the baker or the chef.