"Never be a food snob. Learn from everyone you meet - the fish guy at your market, the lady at the local diner, farmers, cheese makers. Ask questions, try everything and eat up!"

While at a recent visit to Ikea our little play food enthusiast fell in love with their children's kitchen so as we had come to the decision to transform part of the boys room in to a laboratory for Seth we wanted to also do something as exciting for Opeie to wake up to on the big day. Ever since the boys had started playing with their play food we knew we wanted to get them a kitchen and start to build up a collection of children's kitchenware. With Opeie and Mrs M living with serious allergies and dietary issues, the food we eat and where it comes from is really important to us as a family so the fact that the boys actively take an interest in this during meal times and during their role playing is really great.

The plan for Christmas as with Seth's area of the room for a science lab was for Opeie to have his own little diner so that he could serve us and his toys (who are now used to his picnics) food till his hearts content, so while we were painting Seth's wall we were doing the same with Opeie's, creating an area of their room for role playing and food education. 

We had a great selection of products from various places and plenty of things from our kitchen for the boys to use making their playtime a little more enjoyable. The night before our Christmas myself and Mrs M set the area up ready for Opeie to wake up and it ended up looking really nice. 

Opeie was really excited about his new play area and it was great to see that Seth loved it too and was looking forward to playing with his little brother and teaching him what he had learnt from us in regards to food and its preparation. Today's culinary task 'Make some Opeie friendly chocolate' using the inside of his Advent calander as a mold. I'm sure Mrs M will be writing about this soon over at naturalveganecomom.com so check it out.

Opeie's Diner is now open for business and serves food daily. His specialty yesterday was potatoes with jam, delicious (organic potatoes of course). The area is so much more than a play diner, since playing with the play food this year it has helped Opeie with learning colours and counting, hopefully with the use of the large blackboard for his menu it will encourage reading and writing during the coming months. In the mean time though we can enjoy being served a plate of fish bones to accompany our pasta and cheese.

Along with Seth's Lab, Opeie's Diner has served as another great way for us to spend time playing together as a family and if the past few days is anything to go by both areas of the boys room are going to keep us very entertained.