Go ahead, play with your food.

I'm usually the one on kitchen duty, but today, my kids served up some fried sausages, microwaved pears, boiled carrots, and um, pureed sardines. Good thing I wasn't the one eating any of it.

Toca Boca, one of our favorite app designers, is all about playing with your food in the newly released Toca Kitchen.

 

Cook, serve and feed four hungry characters - 2 human, 2 animal - from the stockpile in the fridge. 12 ingredients can be prepared 180 different ways (hence the pureed sardines my kids came up with) and only by exploring can kids find out what each character will eat.

That's right; the characters won't eat everything no matter how much kids try to get them to nosh. Turnabout is fair play, right? The app might even suggest alternative prep methods with a thought bubble showing a frying pan, or say "Ew!" when served something especially gross. My sous chefs find that last part endlessly hilarious.

No rules, time limits, high scores or annoying music means no stress when playing (yippee!) and there's no worry about kids clicking on third-party adverts or in-app pop-ups since there are none (double yippee!). -Pilar

Get Toca Kitchen for iPhone or iPad for $1.99 on iTunes. 

Find More: Apps apps and more apps, Apps for iOS, Apps for kids, Preschoolers and Little Kids