As you may have learned about me by now, I'm not the biggest fan when it comes to technology and our children.  I believe that imagination and creativity are precious commodities that are being lost in part by products that can do everything for us with the touch of a button.

In my opinion, this statement is especially true with regards to our children and their toys.  I am a big believer that children's toys should be simple, well-made and with plenty of room for creativity and imagination to take hold.

Our children's toys need only the power of imagination and not flashing buttons and screens to make them run.  This is why I'm so happy that the folks at Oompa Toys have this same philosophy.  They search the world for quality toys which stimulate your child with creative play and I was fortunate enough to be asked to review one of their wares.

I think that all little girls should have a quality tea party set because this can not only be fun for your child, but can also help to teach many wonderful things such as table manners, taking turns, being polite, etc.  So of course, I was very excited when the Djeco Lunch with Friends play set from Oompa Toys arrived at my door!  Here's a picture of everything that is included with this toy.  It even comes with the small yellow table too.

I was pleased to find that this toy was packaged very well, with all of the different pieces wrapped individually in ziploc bags so that the paint wouldn't chip on the wooden pieces.  The Djeco Lunch with Friends play set is constructed of solid wood and the pieces all appear hand-painted, though I'm not exactly sure that they are.  There are even two napkin rings and napkins included in this set which I thought were especially cute!

The only thing I was a little surprised to find though, was how small this set is.  I should have looked at the dimensions listed on Oompa's website more carefully, for it does say that the table is only 11" in diameter, but I didn't.  Thus, this toy did seem a little on the small side to me.  Riley is only 19 months old and this toy says that it is for children ages 4 and up, but she already seems to tower over this play set.

Next, it was time to get everything out and set up for her to see how she liked it.  She immediately went to playing with the different pieces and started feeding herself imaginary food with the fork and knife.  She poured herself several drinks using the tiny cups and pitcher, and really seemed to enjoy this play set!

It was funny because she didn't quite understand what the loaves of bread were.  She thought they were cars and began saying "Vroom, vroom!" and pushing them around on the floor.  As I stated though, this toy is geared for children ages 4 and up, and I'm sure by then Riley won't confuse bread with cars!  :)

She was having such a good time playing with her Djeco Lunch with Friends play set, that her daddy even stopped in for a quick cup of tea and a bite to eat!  Riley and Michael played for a while with the lunch set and you can see in the pictures above how Riley really focused on everything her daddy was doing.  She would then try very hard to imitate him exactly.  Ah, I loved it...her creativity and imagination was hard at work!  Thanks so much for the quality toy selection, Oompa!