We all have that dream parent we strive to emulate, and mine is the Montessori mom with a tidy shelf of beautiful toys that she rotates every few weeks. Her little one wanders over calmly and engages with these wooden toys meaningfully, all the while exploring their senses and developing coordination and building dexterity.
The difference between this mom and me is… well, where do I begin? (Can I not begin with how chaotic our toy corner is? Can we ignore that it creeps out into our entire living space? Can we pretend this whole situation doesn’t exist for a minute?)
Let’s instead start here: there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to research what’s developmentally appropriate for my child, source the right version for our family, and organize it all nicely. Or at least there wasn’t until I discovered Lovevery.
Is it coming on too strong to say that Lovevery has granted me the wish of becoming that dream mother? Because, seriously, the way I’m feeling right now in the wake of an afternoon spent interacting with our new Play Kit alongside my one-year-old is giving me such a boost.
Engaging and fun toys
My youngest daughter is approaching 16 months and has been regularly getting a hold of markers, wandering around our living room, and saying, “Look! Look!” as she draws on absolutely everything. As soon as our Pioneer Play Kit arrived, I felt a wave of inspiration wash over me. I immediately cleared space for these new toys – and nothing but these toys. It’s a huge relief to mentally take buying toys elsewhere off the table. For birthdays and holidays, we can ask for experiences, money to save, or other meaningful things—but we are completely covered on toys.
My kids love them
Babies are so hands-on that we as parents become conditioned to facilitating their play. But now that my one-year-old can walk—and especially since our Pioneer Play Kit arrived—I’ve noticed that she’ll wander over to her play corner and just get busy with the Community Garden Puzzle or the Wooden Stacking Peg Board. I’ve had to stop myself from going and involving myself multiple times. Of course lots of interaction is great for them, but so is the ability to occupy themselves, and the space to enjoy unguided play. This allows me little pockets of time to do my own thing across the room. Revelatory!
Lovevery toys are a pleasure to in my living room.
You can tell me all you want that you don’t care how your kids’ toys look, and to that I say: your home must have a playroom. Ours doesn’t. Attractive baskets to hide all the junk in does help a smidge, but it truly affects my sense of wellbeing when random, clunky, not-well-thought-out toys fill our space. (How did we end up with all this stuff?) And if it affects my mental health, how could my kids not be feeling the same way? I love how simple, well-crafted, and aesthetically pleasing Lovevery’s toys are.
With simple but meaningful wooden toys intentionally placed in our living space, we now have room to breathe, room to let our creative play emerge all the more vivaciously. Plus, we spend significantly less time tidying. When we’re playing with our Pioneer Play Kit, we’re doing it in a clean space. When we’re not playing with it, we aren’t bogged down by our own mess.
Lovevery Details
The Play Kits by Lovevery cost $120 and they ship every three months. Each includes six or more toys that meet your child at their exact developmental need. The colors are eye-catching but coordinated. The themes are designed for social, emotional, and physical development.
Each set includes a book, but for $18 extra you can incorporate a Play Kit Book Bundle that sends multiple extra books for your shelf. So worth it. I love that the books include photographs of actual people and animals. According to Lovevery, “books with realistic images have been shown to increase vocabulary and letter recognition more than books with fantastical illustrations.”
One of my favorite parts is that the kits come with a Play Guide for the adults to foster next-level learning through play for their child by giving the reasoning behind each play thing’s purpose.
