Vilac Wooden Cutting Fruit and Vegetables Set

Five things to chop, and a kiwi among them

A carrot, a kiwi, an orange, an onion and a banana. Not the usual apple-and-tomato line-up, which is the first good thing about this set — a two-year-old who has cut an onion in half in the playroom is a two-year-old who has a word for an onion. The pieces halve cleanly under the wooden knife and press back together, so the whole thing resets in seconds and starts again.

🔪 Chop, rip, press, repeat

The satisfaction is in the sound. Each piece is held together with velcro, so cutting through gives a proper tearing rip and the two halves fall apart on the board — the sort of small, repeatable, wholly controllable event that toddlers will do forty times running. Pressing them back together is the quieter half of the game, and it takes more coordination than the cutting does.

🥝 Five you don't usually get

Most first cutting sets are strawberries and cake. A kiwi and an onion are far more useful, because they're things that turn up on a real chopping board and get talked about at the table. If you're in the thick of trying to widen what your toddler will look at, never mind eat, a play version they've handled first does no harm at all.

🧷 Velcro, honestly

Velcro is what makes the rip so satisfying, and it's also the part that ages. Over a year or two the loops go fluffy and collect carpet lint, and the halves hold together a little less crisply than they did on day one. You can pick them clean with your fingernail and they carry on working. We'd rather you knew that now than discovered it in eighteen months.

🇫🇷 Designed and imagined in France

Vilac have been making wooden toys from the Jura in eastern France since 1911. This set is designed and imagined there and manufactured in China. It carries UKCA and CE marking and has been laboratory tested to the EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC.

What we like about it

• Five pieces, and an unusual five — carrot, kiwi, orange, onion, banana
• Wooden knife and board both included, so nothing else is needed
• A clean velcro split and a proper rip, endlessly repeatable
• Pressing the halves back together is the harder, quieter half of the game
• Designed and imagined in France by a toymaker going back to 1911
• UKCA and CE, laboratory tested to EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC

Specification

• Suitable from: 2 years
• Contents: 5 pieces to cut — carrot, kiwi, orange, onion, banana — plus a wooden board and a wooden knife
• Fastening: velcro (hook and loop)
• Size: 23cm x 20.5cm x 5cm
• Material: wood, with velcro fastenings
• Designed in: France. Made in China
• Safety: UKCA and CE, laboratory tested to EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC
• Care: surface wash only

❓ Frequently asked questions

Velcro or magnets — which is better?
The honest answer is that they're different rather than one being better. Velcro gives you the rip, which is most of the appeal, and it holds firmly enough that a piece won't fall apart in a toy box. Magnets snap rather than tear, never go fluffy, but they also snap back together on their own, which some children find less satisfying. This set is velcro. In a year or two the loops will pick up carpet lint and want cleaning out with a fingernail — that's the trade-off, and it's a small one.

Is the knife safe?
It's a blunt wooden knife with no cutting edge — it works by pulling the velcro apart rather than by cutting anything, so it won't cut skin, paper or anything else. It's a toy shaped like a knife, and worth a word about not using real ones, because a child who has learned to chop will want to help.

What age is it for?
The box says 2 years and up.

Will it get my toddler eating more vegetables?
We're not going to promise that, because nobody can. What handling a play carrot does is make a carrot familiar and give it a name, and familiarity is where most food acceptance starts — but it's one small thing among many, not a solution to a fussy eater.

How do I clean it?
Surface wash only — a damp cloth, and don't soak it. Water is particularly bad for velcro-backed wood, so keep it out of the sink and away from the water play.

🔍 More pretend play

• Wooden Pizza Puzzle Board — the same idea with a pizza to slice and top
• Wooden Tool Box Toy and the Wooden Tool Bench — for a child who would rather mend than cook
• Wooden Farm House with Characters and the Chicken Coop Set — where the food comes from, more or less

❤️ From our family to yours

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