One of the delights of watching my daughter grow is how she's become more and more interested in helping out with stuff around the house. For her it's about learning how to do something new, but for me letting my little one loose around sharp knives, gas cookers and a hot oven isn't something I'm too keen on for obvious reasons.

That's why a play kitchen is such an appealing idea, as it gives my little one a chance to do just what mummy's doing, but in a safe and fun way that's more suited to a three year old's stature.

Asda Direct is offering a wooden play kitchen for £35. That's THIRTY-FIVE Pounds?! I am quite taken aback! It's original price was £70, but it's reduced by half and can be collected for free with Click and Collect.

• Cook up a grand imagination 

Play kitchens are normally so expensive, I thought there must be something wrong with these, but there doesn't seem to be. They are wooden, bright and colourful, and will lead your child's imaginative play perfectly

The dials on the kitchen turn to set the temperature, there's a hob and a microwave to cook with, and there's a sink for washing up.

The reviews on this are really positive, and people liked it and thought the quality was good, especially for the price.

The only thing to bare in mind is that it can be ordered now, but won't be delivered before 5 November and that it isn't a huge kitchen, so great if space is an issue, but won't keep your child for as may years.

Thanks to kaytiebint at HUKD

I was going to tell you about the Hello Kitty Play Kitchen that's on sale at Tesco for £15, instead of £45, but I think I might actually lose the will to live if I write about the pink plastic-fantastic monstrosity again.

I don't have anything against play kitchens, per say, just the ones with subtle (or not so subtle) undertones of 'kitchens are for girls and must learn their place in them from the earliest age possible!'

So to redress the balance and to let the boys get in on some play kitchen action - my youngest son loved playing at being a chef when he was a little bit younger than he is now - I'm going to highlight this very masculine-not-a-hint-of-pink-to-be-seen Zanussi play kitchen instead.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Zanussi play kitchen

If I was going to buy a play kitchen then this one would be it - it's very stainless steel looking, rather like my own grown up kitchen, and has everything a play kitchen should:

• A sink with mixer tap
• A fridge with water dispenser in the door (I don't think it really dispenses water)
• An oven and grill
• A hob and hot plate with extractor hood above
• A toaster, complete with toast
• Storage shelves and various cooking utensils and kitchen paraphernalia too

It makes realistic sounds, which require 3 AA batteries to actually work, and is suitable for budding chefs aged three years and over.

Happy playing in a not-pink play kitchen; hurrah!

Home Bargains are selling this Little Tikes Baby Born Cookin' Around Sounds Kitchen for £29.99 rather than £79.99.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Little Tikes Baby Born Cookin' Around Sounds Kitchen

If you're a regular PlayPennies reader you might have gathered I'm not a fan of play kitchens - it comes from the fact they're usually pink and aimed at girls and, quite frankly, get the men in the kitchen I say! - and would rather stick forks in my eyes than write about another one.

BUT this one looks pretty cool, if you're into the whole play kitchen thing.

It's round, so more than one young chef can play at the same time, and it features various electronic cooking sounds.  When you put a pot or pan on the hob you'll hear boiling sounds, frying sounds, popcorn popping sounds, along with a timer ticking and the bell to let you know you're food is done.

It also comes with eight accessories: an attachable baby seat (you'll have to provide your own baby doll), table area, microwave cooking centre, sink, refrigerator and lots of storage.

You can arrange to collect your Little Tikes Baby Born Cookin' Around Sounds Kitchen in-store, or you can have it delivered to your home for around a fiver.

Happy play cooking!

Tesco are selling this Hello Kitty Kitchen, with kettle and toaster, for £24 instead of its full-priced £60.

• Click HERE to take a look at this Hello Kitty Kitchen

Play kitchens - I know kids love them but they just make me want to poke forks in my eyes, especially plastic-fantastic pink ones like this Hello Kitty kitchen.  But you can't argue that £24 rather than £60 isn't a good deal if you're in the market for a play kitchen.

The Hello Kitty kitchen has a pink Hello Kitty cooker, a white worktop above and a sink for the dishes.  There's a shelf for pots and pans, hooks to hang utensils on and a drawer under the oven for extra storage.

The Hello Kitty kitchen is suitable for little girls (I can't imagine anyone buying this for their son, no matter how much we try to abandon gender stereotypes) aged three years and older and requires 3AA batteries - this is so the toast actually pops up out of the toaster (ooooh, I fancy toast now!) and allows the hob to make sizzling pan sounds.

You can arrange to collect your Hello Kitty kitchen, not forgetting the kettle and toaster, in-store for free OR you can now pay just £3 for standard delivery.  HURRAH!!  Well done Tesco, it's about time there were more options other than the £5 next-day!

Thanks to dudebar at HUKD

Yes I know it's another play kitchen, but it's a Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen, it's portable too and you can grab one from Debenhams for £22.49 instead of the usuall £49.99.

• Click HERE to see the Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen

Now I suppose your point of view is going to influence whether you think this Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen is great or disappointing.  It measures 56cm tall by 34.5cm wide which is NOT very big even by play kitchen standards; however, it seems to have been designed for kitchen play on the run as it packs away into a storage case, making it easy to take with you when you're off visiting rellies etc.

If you want a huge play kitchen then this Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen clearly isn't going to be for you, but if you want something small and compact, that's not going to dominate your home and can easily be packed up and taken with, then I think it could be just the thing.

The published price on the Debenhams website for the Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen is £24.99, just enter code - DB2U - into the promotion code box in your basket to bring it down to £22.49.

There's nothing to pay to have your Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen delivered to your home - the last date for Debenhams Christmas postage is 22 December according to HUKD, which I think is risking it a bit to be honest - or you can go and collect it from your local Debenhams if you prefer.

Thanks to pontygirl at HUKD

It's almost got to the stage, for any of us here at PlayPennies, where if any of the toy kitchens we write about come with forks, we want to poke them in our eyes!

It's not that there's only so much you can ever say about things like this Cosy Cottage My First Kitchen, it's the hideous gender stereotypical product descriptions we have to read through first.

• Click HERE for this Cosy Cottage My First Kitchen

Thankfully, this one's not so bad as, and I quote, "Little ones who love copying mum and dad will cook up a storm in My First Kitchen," - it's rare that dads get mentioned in kitchen role play spiel!

So, this Cosy Cottage My First Kitchen is pink (do little boys, who love cooking up storms in the kitchen like dad, mind if theirs is pink?) and it stands 60cms tall and has a hob, a toaster, a sink and an an oven complete with opening door - good job really, it'd be a pretty useless oven otherwise.

It also comes with 14 accessories: two plates, two cups, salt and pepper shakers, two knives, two forks (ooooh goody, where are my eyes!), two spoons, a spatular and a frying pan.

The original price for the Cosy Cottage My First Kitchen was £20, now it's all yours for £9 - a rather tasty little Christmas bargain methinks!

Standard home delivery takes around four days and is currently free. However, if you live in the Scottish Highlands or Channel Islands, then the Cosy Cottage My First Kitchen isn't available for delivery at all; sorry.

Thanks to Chalico at HUKD

Amazon have reduced the price of this Mini Mouse Play Kitchen by 33% - it's £23.44 now instead of £34.99.

• Click HERE to go over to Amazon

I'm not usually a fan of play kitchens, but I have to confess I find this Mini Mouse Kitchen rather cute.  There are three separate play modes: Cooking, dining and washing up - if this toy kitchen was in my house, THAT would be the mode least played with unless it came with a real nagging mummy too.

A food mixer flips up from the body of the Mini Mouse play kitchen and is operated by hand (there's no need for any batteries with this toy kitchen - hurrah!); when the mixer is folded down out of the way there's a draining rack for all the washing up.

The oven has a timer, there's a fridge and a BBQ grill, ceramic hob, sink with taps (handy I always find, to have a sink with taps) and there are 17 accessories included too, such as pots, pans and a rolling pin.

If you want more accessories for your Mini Mouse Kitchen then you can buy them separately, but just for good measure a set of real recipe cards have been included for you to try out in your real kitchen.

All the usual Amazon delivery options apply - you can have your Mini Mouse Kitchen delivered for free with the SuperSaver Delivery option, or pay a little bit more to have it delivered faster.

Thanks to lucy75 at HUKD

My First Hello Kitty Kitchen is half  price at Toys R Us at the moment, selling for £24.99 instead of £49.99.

• Get cooking with Hello Kitty in the Kitchen

Despite the fact that so much pink in one spot makes my heart race a little faster – it seems having a little girl has done nothing for my apparent pink version of chromatophobia (the fear of colours) – this does look like a  pretty good deal. I’m always stunned at the price of play kitchens, so one for under £30 with delivery included doesn’t seem too bad.

Crititcisms of this set from purchasers include that it is a bit flimsy and not really suitable from the advertised 18 months old, although not everyone agrees with that.

The Hello Kitty First Kitchen features a cooker, sink, hob, plenty of storage, an over door which opens and closes and 15 play accessories, such as a pot and pan, cups for making tea, crockery and cutlery for three.  It also comes with a collection of stickers for decorating the play set.

The Belling Foldaway Kitchen is £29.99 at The Entertainer at the moment – 50% off the old price of £59.99.

• Kickstart creative play with this  Belling Foldaway Kitchen

I dream of a wooden kitchen for my daughter, but I must say, this Belling Foldaway Kitchen made me stop and think about it. It seems like really good value to me!

This kitchen unit features a sink, hob, hot plate  and oven and there are sound effects and talking phrases to enhance the role play experience  - although I always wonder if that stands in the way of imagination? The kitchen also comes with a kettle, toaster, and over 20 accessories.

Amazingly, the whole kitchen folds up for storage or transport, which I think is pretty fantastic.

The reviews on this are actually quite amusing as some reviewers say it folds away easily, while others say it’s fiddly and time consuming, so I guess it depends on your expectation and skill, but by ‘fold away’ it does seem to mean ‘disassemble’.  While some praise it for being sturdy, others complain that it’s flimsy. So, again – it seems dependent on expectation!

Either way, it’s a good price if you’re after a play kitchen.