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I’m a mom to three kids, and here is a little secret. I love to buy toys. I just love it, and I want to share my tips on how to buy toys your kids will actually play with. Over the last 5 years I feel like I have gotten pretty good at buying toys and I think my kids have gotten pretty good at playing with toys. But here are a few things you should know about my family first:
- I am a SAHM. We are home every single day, so we NEED good toys. Without them I would go insane.
- We homeschool, so a lot of our toys are also used for learning! Not all, but a good bit of them play double time. Also, play is a very important part of learning so we need good toys.
- I have three kids, and I don’t want to keep bringing junk into my house. So I invest in toys. I don’t buy the most expensive toys, but I do buy in the middle range on price. I want all three kids to play with these toys and I want to be able to say I got my money’s worth.
- I don’t play gender roles with my kids. They do like baby dolls and barbies, but they also enjoy blocks and Tonka trucks!
- We do have a playroom that we put these toys in. Which I know is a luxury a lot of people don’t have.
A toy that doesn’t get played with doesn’t last very long in my house. I want my kids to love their toys and I want them to be able to be creative with their toys. If a toy isn’t meeting that need, it’s gone. I don’t keep it around, because clutter can be the death of play. So here are my tips for buying toys your kids will actually play with:
Go Deep, not wide.
I saw a lady on TikTok talking about this concept and she explained it so well. When buying toys don’t keep acquiring new toys. Instead buy toys that have several sets, so you can make one category bigger. A great example of this is building toys. One set of blocks is rarely enough to keep play going for long periods of time, because you are limited with what you can build. But multiple sets of blocks lets you build whole towns, fences, and/or big towers. Magnet Tiles are the same way! I LOVE magnet tiles and its the best gift to go deep in, because there are so many options for play when you have several sets.
Try to limit electronics
I want to start off by saying, there is nothing wrong with a toy that makes noise if your kids play with it. We have had toys in the past that make noise and my kids loved them. We also have toys that make appropriate sounds now that we love. But when I am looking to buy a new toy I try to find toys that don’t make sound on their own. Why? Because it takes away some of the creative aspects of play. When a child is playing doctor and they check their patients temperature, in their head they have already decided if their patient is sick or not, but if the thermometer says something different their whole play is thrown off. The scenario in their head trumps anything a toy will tell them, and if we have toys that don’t make sound we can better foster that play, and allow them to come up with more imaginative ways to play.
Buy toys that can be used in multiple ways
Some of the best advice I have been given is don’t buy it unless you can think of 5 ways to use it. This is a little extreme in the toy buying world but I do try to make sure all my toys have multiple uses. I also try to make sure the big categories I have all work together in some way. Here is an example. We love animal/dino figures. We can use them as an animal scenario, farm play, they can be toys in our shop for sale, we use them with building materials to play zoo or animals taking over a town, animal rescue is a big game for us, they can be used in sensory play, water play, etc. there are literally limitless opportunities for play with these animals. Plus, when it comes to buying new ones the different sets are endless! We can get dinos, zoo animals, forest animals, farm animals, unicorns, dragons, water animals, we love and use them all. This will also lend itself to other gift opportunities like, a barn, horse stables, building toys, etc. If you can find a toy that has lots of different uses it will create great play.
Limit the categories you offer
When I buy toys I try to stick to just a few categories. The categories we have in our house are:
- House/baby dolls: which are baby dolls, doctor kits, a play kitchen, and accessories.
- Play animals: horses, dinos, wild animals, and this year for christmas we are expanding to farm animals and unicorns.
- Building Materials: magnet tiles, lots of magnet tiles
- Dollhouse: the girls have a couple dollhouses and lots of characters. This would be the equivalent of their barbies.
- Outdoor toys/gross motor skills: Mud kitchen, water tables, soccer goals, bikes, I love this category. They want for nothing here, because I love to be outside.
- Arts and crafts: paint, crayons, markers, glue etc.
- Baby Toys: We also have a basket of toys for Baby A. She can “play” with a lot of the big kids toys, but we do have some stuff just for her!
These are the categories I am constantly looking to add to and to expand. Anything that works in these areas usually creates play for us. But your categories could look different. You could have action figures, trains, balls, and trucks! You could have barbies, American girl dolls, arts and crafts, and a play kitchen. Whatever combination works for you, and try to stick to those!
Provide a toy rotation
This is something new for us. Since we are moving I have put away almost all of the toys the girls have. We just couldn’t keep the play room clean for showings otherwise. This means we are in a state of rotating their toys. It has truly provided a ton of play! While I know this isn’t an option for everyone, I highly recommend it if you can. Or even just an aspect of it. If you want to rotate just your building toys, or just your animals that would be an option too! Or just randomly go in and reorganize their play space. Move things around, put them in new containers, just mess things up a bit. You would be surprised how that toy is now a fan favorite.
Purge toys frequently
If it isn’t serving you get rid of it! Clutter makes play difficult. It can hinder their play, and big messes will make them not want to play in their space. Just like you don’t like a messy home, they don’t either. So if you aren’t using it, get rid of it and find a new toy to takes its place.
If you won’t keep up with the small pieces don’t buy it.
We don’t own any barbies because I can’t stand tiny pieces. If you won’t keep up with it, don’t buy it. Its not worth the hassle and the frustration. Tiny pieces are great for some kids but not for others. My mom wanted to get the girls some polly pockets this year, but my feral children would NEVER keep up with those pieces. So I said no. You don’t have to get something just because it’s trendy. If it won’t serve you, don’t buy it. Don’t let the FOMO get you.
If you have/want multiple kids quality toys are worth the price.
If you want more than one kid, buy the quality toys. A piece of advice that we got before we got married was buy the mid level stuff. Don’t go cheap, and expensive probably isn’t worth it, but the mid level stuff holds up just fine. I would say its true about toys too. You don’t need the most expensive items (although I do love some of my expensive toys) but I wouldn’t buy the really cheap stuff either. It won’t last. They don’t hold up, they break, or they wear down. If I could go back and tell first time mom Kourtney anything it would be to stop buying the cheap stuff. For multiple kids you need to invest in the nicer things. Some ways that I do that are buying them off amazon, seeing the quality first hand, and if I like it we keep it, if its junk I return it. I also love a good toy store. I love finding them while on vacation to see toys in person. I also check out my friends toy stash and ask them what they love! Your friends are great toy testers too! But ultimately buy from trusted brands and quality toys.
So this is how I buy toys that my kids will actually play with. I put a lot of thought and effort into buying toys for my kids. Every year for holidays I take the time to think up creative ideas for my kids and try to curate gifts that they will love and play with, and when play is stale at our house I’ll buy a new set of something they love to hopefully bring some new play back.
Toys are my secret to life without a ton of screen time, it’s how I get my kids to play outside, it’s how we survive weekends at home, it’s my kids childhood. Hopefully these tips will help you buy toys your kids will actually play with.
