With any toy, a child first needs guidance and of course supervison. My daughter got this at 10 months and fell in love with it. When we first got it we played along with her and now she sits and plays by herself. She just needed someone to show her about playing "pretend". She "cooks" things up now and gives them to us to try (she is now 11 months). It's about learning no matter how simple the tasks. She loves trying to put whatever is handy in the fridge, oven and microwave parts. The door does come off but it's not dangerous. It only snaps in and out and it's all soft plastic. My daughter will try to yank the door off on purpose. She thinks it's funny. She can also tip it over but again she does it on purpose. There isn't much weight to it so it's no danger to someone of her age. I think the best age range for this would be 9 - 18 months.