Food making toys that provide kids with a false sense of accomplishment are nothing new. The Japanese toy Konapun is actually one of the most realistic — but that realism comes at a horrifying price.
First… the ‘food’ produced by Konapun is inedible. And if you’re already asking what the point is, it gets worse. Konapun is not for children under eight-years-old, and the fake food has an extremely short shelf life. So the Konapun might give young adults the sensation of cooking — but more importantly, the food’s tendency to rot after a few days will help provide a much-needed lesson in soul-crushing disappointment. Thank you Japan.
The video below is as fascinating as it is disturbing… Please enjoy.
[link, via My Food Looks Funny]
All points are valid. True, this and other pretend toys like it don’t give a child the same sense of accomplishment as preparing something he or she can actually eat or serve (like with an Easy Bake Oven or helping a parent in the kitchen) and it goes against everything Maria Montessori and her philosophy ever stood for, but this isn’t about accomplishing anything. It’s about make-believe .
Geeze You’re a killjoy! Have you ever played with play dough and made “fake hamburgers”? I had a great and imaginative childhood that included ‘inedible’ mud pies, ‘inedible’ invisible tea parties and ‘inedible’ play dough feasts. Perhaps the goal isn’t gluttony and needing to consume the product of your toy???? It’s artistic and fun. I love this toy.
some people dont have big kitchens to cook in you know its just ment to be fun and cute, and if you read up on it you’d see it uses no heat at all
Truly, truly gross! Still shocked that people would pay for fake food. Clearly cheaper, more efficient & smarter to use real food. Don’t understand this at all. (Kind of worried that the cooking bits use real heat. Dangerous much for unsupervised kids?)