Let me start by saying I hate most kid toys haha.
My husband would call me a snob, I would call myself *particular*. 😂
When my oldest was a baby + toddler I was fully committed to the montessori life, natural materials, open ended play, etc. And we loved that. Things have gotten slightly brighter and more chaotic as we added each kid (now we have 4 under 8yo).
BUT I’ve stuck to my guns for the most part. Aside from a few stray toys from Grandma that light up and/or make noise, almost everything we have still meets the criteria I set as a first time mom.
Open ended. Many uses. No lights / sounds. Creative and imagination building. Going deep into a collection, not wide.
And truthfully, our house is better for it.
We have less stuff.
Less chaos.
Things that my kids actually play with, daily.
They can pick up & maintain everything on their own.
I don’t waste money.
It builds over time & can be passed down between siblings.
And a few years ago when we moved across the country (literally west coast to the east coast) and had to fit our entire life in a tiny shipping pod, it was the perfect opportunity to get rid of stuff.
These 5 things made the cut.
I see the debate online about yoto vs. tonie box. I’ve had both. And without a doubt I would recommend the Yoto. I found the tonies to be really annoying to store, they were more of a toy than something my kids listened to, and the selection just isn’t the same!!
We’ve had the big yoto, but now use 2 minis daily and on roadtrips
Plus, the yoto can grow with your kids well into the preteen and teen years. We have SO MANY cards (we buy 1-2 a time, a few at christmas, etc. to build our collection). Some favorite my kids (3-7yo) listen to on repeat are:
Any of the Ladybird collection (we have them all)
BrainBots (especially the science ones)
Classic stories like Magic School Bus, Winnie the Pooh, and BoxCar Children
Now that my oldest are 5yo and 7yo we are starting to collect more of the long chapter book story cards, which are amazing to put on during quiet time, lunch, while they play independently, etc.
We got the triangle for my daughter’s first birthday, and the balance board for her 2nd. They’ve been used ENDLESSLY since.
Even when we had a tiny 900sq apartment, we took out the coffee table and put these in the living room. It was very chic 😂
But truly, if your kid is crawling or walking, they will be climbing. Might as well give them something to move on vs. having them climbing bookshelves and couches.
Save up for a holiday or birthday, OR get one off facebook marketplace. This is something I would actually invest in vs. getting a cheap version.
A classic for a reason. We’ve also had all sorts of other building materials (blocks, train tracks, etc). and these were by far the favorite.
I’ve tried all the brands. Honestly the cheap ones work just as well as the expensive ones. We usually get picasso tiles. And then add on a “fun” set at holidays or birthday (like the sparkle castle set or the roads!). More is more is more here.
With open ended toys like this, building up a collection lets everyone have enough to actually build a massive structure, track, world etc.
My kids currently have a massive multi-building structure happening in their bedroom that they’ve been working on for DAYS. It takes up the whole floor and they can barely walk in their room lol. But they KEEP PLAYING with it. And TOGETHER. With NO fighting!!!
That’s a toy I’ll keep paying for 🙏🏽
This is less of a “toy” and more of a category, but stick with me.
I don’t care if you have boys or girls. I don’t care if they are calm, feral, wild, silly or will listen obediently to everything you say. They need art supplies.
The key here is finding what works for THEM. Because it’s different for each kid and based on the DMs I get, lots of toddlers don’t actually want to sit and color for an hour haha.
Here’s what we keep on hand:
Paper (printer paper, construction paper, big butcher block rolls)
Coloring stuff (esp. markers and thick crayons like these)
Playdough stuff (I either DIY the playdough or buy kits like this one — my kids are still playing with the snowman ones from last christmas stockings)
Stickers (literally from anywhere, including huge rolls of 2inch dot stickers)
Watercolor (easier to clean than regular paint and less messy)
Again, less of a traditional toy, but something that my kids use every. single. day.
Every time we would normally go to target to buy a toy, or christmas / birthday present, we swap in at least one book. Honestly I’m a huge reader too, so that helps because my kids see me read every day also! But our house is always covered in stacks of books and I 100% think reading makes my kids better humans.
And books don’t have to be expensive either! We always use:
The library ✨ (GO GO GO if you don’t have a library card!! Every single person should have one, they are my top tier place to go with kids)
Free Little Libraries ✨ (you can drive around to find them or look at the official map here)
Thriftbooks.com ✨ (we buy at least 50% of our books from here. you can find almost anything, and save money AND save books from going to the landfill. win win.)
Okay so looking at this list, there aren’t a lot of traditional “toys.” We do have other things but I keep it pretty minimal outside of open ended stuff! A quick list of other things we keep:
Puzzles
Balls / sports stuff
Animals / figurines
Train tracks and vehicles
Bikes and scooters for outside
And that’s probably 99% of it. We do acquire other toys of course from grandparents, birthday parties, etc. But if I took out everything besides what’s above, my kids would be completely fine!
Cheers to minimal toys that they get into deeeeeep play with. 🙏
xx Cassie
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