Kindred Gift Guide | Children's Toys | Build
I am back with another installment of our Gift Guide series, this time featuring building toys! Obvious toys like classic blocks or Lincoln Logs, even Legos or Magnatiles, may all come to mind when you think “building toys”. However, I wanted to stretch your imaginations a bit! These are some alternative ideas to the classic “building toy”, and I hope you enjoy them!
A couple of notes before I dive in. Like the first Toys guide from last week which focused on imaginary play, I am mostly featuring building toys from small American makers. There is an exception, but that is still a focus and is something I am trying to be cogniscent of this Christmas. I am also including some of my favorite American toy shops, where you can find more Montessori & Waldorf focused toys, from makers all over the world!
What I Love
These beautiful Waldorf-inspired toys are handmade by a husband & wife team out of Nevada.
This is an iconic Montessori/ Waldorf toy. The possibilities for play are really endless. We use our rainbow stacker to “build” bridges and tunnels. We lay the pieces down to “sort” things within their curves. They serve as horse stalls, bedrooms, thrones, garages, and more!
This particular stacker is constantly sold out, with good reason. Unlike other stacking rainbows (like one we actually have by Grimm’s), I have heard from other reviewers that this stacker is perfectly curved and stacks the same frontwards & backwards. I have also heard that these colors are a bit more muted/natural looking, which is appealing to me. They have an all-wood version, and even came out with a pastel palette recently! I am hoping with the new year, that their designs will be more easily available.
What I Love
This is from a small North Carolina company, who pays their production staff a living wage, and packs and ships every product themselves.
Is it kid furniture or a toy? It is all.the.things. Things my kids have “built” with The Nugget’s FOUR pieces — slide, fort, boat, airplane, throne, gymnastics mat, teepee, tunnel, bed, sofa, obstacle course, safety mat under our swings … the possibilities are (almost) endless!
This is easily my best purchase of 2019. My kids got it for their combined birthdays earlier this year, and it is used/played with every day.
The Nugget as a slide
What I Love
This is also a husband & wife owned company, out of Seattle. Their wooden toys are part of educational installations at a handful of museums from coast to coast!
From a design standpoint, the concept of these modular sets is literally genius. No wonder the designs are copyright protected — you won’t find anything else like this on the market! All of the modular sets can work interchangeably, the pieces can be “built” in endless configurations, and the tower sets can also be built vertically for multiple-story creations, due to how the pieces are “notched”. And because the sets are modular, the pieces can then be taken apart and stored or transported easily. Genius.
I got the smaller Wooden House Walls set earlier this year to see if my kids would enjoy the modular play house concept. My 2 and 4 year olds use this set equally, but for different things! My 4 year old usually likes to build “houses” or a town for her mice or peg people, and my 2 year old LOVES for me to help him build “a barn” for his horses or sometimes a “garage” for his cars & trucks. We would like to get them the Castle Tower set for Christmas this year so that they can start building multiple story creations. What a win that the new set will work with the house walls set we already have!!
What I Love
Although this is a European-based company, it was started by a husband-wife team and reflects values we commend in a company — employee appreciation, environmental awareness, and educational focus on open-ended play.
Yes, this is an imaginative play toy, but part of that play is “building” the road(s) yourself, which can be done in so many ways, in all kinds of places!
This is an expensive toy for what it is. However, our set has proved durable & loved by boys and girls alike, and I think it will be appealing for MANY years to come.
Expressway set outside - it is rubber and wipes clean!
Expressway set inside, with “garages” made from our Grimm’s rainbow + Large Semicircle set.
Here are some online toy boutiques where I have either personally shopped, or have stumbled upon and been impressed with. Some things I look for in a toy store are:
A focus on imaginative play
Wooden or heirloom quality toy selection
Open-ended toys for a wide range of ages
An awareness of environmental impact and/or commitment to community
Seedfactory - I have shopped this online store and have also visited their Atlanta boutique. Not only is the customer service AMAZING (they refunded me for a damaged toy I ordered and then let us keep it anyway!), the selection of brands is robust. The storefront is also beautiful and well-curated. You can even reserve their space for your baby shower!
Sarah’s Silks - We ordered our play silks directly from here (instead of Amazon), because they offer “seconds” for discounted prices. I also put a message with the order that I was trying to have them by a birthday, and they made sure we got the package right on time!
Rose and Rex - An amazing online boutique that pays it forward with every purchase by supporting a nonprofit called Second Chance Toys.
The Natural Baby Co. - So much more than just toys, they also sell other natural baby products like cloth diapers, lovely blankets, and organic clothing.
Bella Luna Toys - One of the most beautiful wooden toy selections I’ve seen all in one place. The woman who started this store, Sarah Baldwin, also has a wonderful blog and a video series called “Sunday with Sarah”. Her philosophy on toys and play is so inspiring!
Magic Cabin - An incredibly unique and LARGE selection of imaginative toys, with many proprietary designs.
Kidly - All of their products are tested by real kids, with reviews and insights shared for each item! They also carry their own line of toys.
Manzanita Kids - I shared above about this small American company, who also absorbed Little Sapling Toys this year.
Bannor Toys - Another small American company, making wooden, heirloom quality toys.
I hope these ideas and insights are helpful to you this holiday season, as we hopefully seek to shop for “better not more”! If there is a favorite building toy or children’s toy boutique that I should know about, please drop it in the comments! Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!