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Lovevery Play Kits Review – are they worth it?

    Lovevery Play Kits offers a curated collection of high-quality educational toys designed to support your child’s development during their early years. With a focus on age-appropriateness and Montessori-aligned principles, Lovevery provides parents and caregivers with the tools to foster meaningful play and learning experiences for their little ones.

    Lovevery play kits-the babbler kits
    Lovevery Play Kits – The Babbler Kit

    What is Lovevery?

    Lovevery is a company from the USA dedicated to creating high-quality educational toys for children from birth to 4 years old. Their toys promote age-appropriate learning and foster essential skills during early childhood years. 

    Their Lovevery Play Kits are a series of carefully curated, subscription-based educational toys which are stage based – providing the toys your child needs at the right time. Typically each Lovevery box covers three months of a child’s life. For example, our Babbler Play Kit is for ages 13 to 15 months. 

    Is Lovevery Montessori?

    I became interested in the Lovevery Play Kits through the Montessori community! The toys and ideas in Play Kits are designed with Montessori principles in mind. 

    Developed by child development experts, the Lovevery Play Kits encourage independence through hands-on discovery and play. The toys and playthings inside are Montessori-aligned and engage your child’s natural curiosity through repetition and purpose while building real-life practical skills. They are also made with simple natural materials, focused on one skill while highlighting the real world with realistic design and imagery. 

    They defer one way from Montessori, where some of their toys are for imaginative role play, which is also essential for children’s brain development!

    Loververy play kits

    Opening the Lovevery Box and First Impressions

    The Lovevery Play Kit came in a box, and I am impressed with how all the items are carefully packed inside the Lovevery Box. My daughter was as excited as I was about getting all the toys out. She immediately wanted to play with some of them once I took them out of the box. 

    Next, I was immediately taken by the quality of the toys, which I could feel when I touched and played with them. I have seen enough toys since my son’s birth, and I know a quality one when I see it. 

    Lovevery box`
    Lovevery Box – Unboxing!

    Lovevery Play Kits Review – The Babbler Play Kit (14 to 17 months)

    We tested The Babbler Play Kit when our daughter was 14 to 17 months old. The play kit is for 13-15 months old, but I find some of the toys extended to even later for my child. We are still reading the book that came with it before bedtime, and my daughter enjoys some of the toys still at 17 months, which we will go into detail below. 

    Age-Appropriateness and Engagement

    So how did the Lovevery Babbler Play Kit stand up to our test? There was lots of fun playtime, for sure. I can confirm that all the toys are within my daughter’s age range, as she could interact and play with any of them immediately. Though she is not so interested in the bunny one, I think she may have outgrown taking things out and putting them in again. Before this, we have been exploring similar skills with a DIY box and some small blocks.

    I observed that once I set up some of the Lovevery toys on our play shelf, my daughter visited them often again and again through the weeks. Some hold her attention longer, while others invite her to keep returning for a short play. 

    Toys Analysis of Lovevery Play Kits – The Babbler Kit

    Slide and Seek Ball Run

    This is an extension of object permanence, along with a ball run and lock box! This is, in my opinion, the most valuable toy in the whole Play Kit box! 

    Although I must say, it is not quite Montessori, as there are multiple skills and aims here. The ball run requires hand-eye coordination to push the ball through, while the lock box style focuses on interacting with different doors or openings to get to the ball hidden inside. 

    Nevertheless, my daughter loved it from the start! She dropped the ball again and again and quickly found a loophole to her problem (she couldn’t manipulate all the doors and openings yet); she just reached in from the drop hole and got her ball out again! 

    When she was older, around 16 months, she interacted more with the doors and openings, and of course, she also hid different things inside the box just for fun!

    Lovevery ball run
    Lovevery Play Kit – Slide and Seek Ball Run

    Wooden Coin Bank Set – Coin Lid and Coins, Carrot Lid with Carrots and Posting Lid

    This is essentially a 3-in-1 wooden coin bank set. You can change the box lid for different activities 

    My daughter finds the coin drop easy at the age of 14 months, as we also have another similar toy that she used to practice this skill before. So I believe if it were her first, she’d have lots of playtime with it, especially from 12/13 months old. At 14 months old, she loved putting and pushing the carrots in as it challenged her more. 

    I introduced the posting lid later at 15 months, as it required more precision to insert an earbud, and she played with it repeatedly, so much so that I had to replace the earbuds as they wore out! 

    Posting is an excellent fine motor activity and exercise for hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills.

    Lovevery play kit - wooden coin bank set
    Lovevery Play Kit – Wooden Coin Bank Set

    Flexible Wooden Stacker

    Most of us might already have a wooden stacker of some kind at home, but if you don’t, this is a great one to have! I especially like that the wooden stick is bendable via a rubber inside, so it keeps the toy safe for the child. 

    The extra rings insert around it adds a dimension to the play, but my daughter focuses mainly on dropping the rings through the stick. 

    A wooden stacker enhances motor skills, problem-solving abilities, and spatial awareness

    Circle of Friends Puzzle

    This is one of my favorite toys as I like that different faces are inside each puzzle, making the puzzle more interesting and fun to de- and re-construct. My daughter enjoyed looking at the different faces, so taking off the puzzle pieces was like a fun peek-a-boo.

    When she was a little older, she learned to discern sizes and put the puzzle back together. I introduced the Montessori single-round puzzle when she was 12, so she can already do that easily. Hence she can focus on discerning sizes.

    Lovevery - circle of friends puzzle
    Lovevery – Circle of Friends Puzzle

    Bunnies in a Felt Burrow

    I find this toy charming, and the idea is nice, taking in and out bunnies from their burrows. I know this would have been perfect for my daughter at 12/13 months as she was in that sensitive period of this skill then, to which I have diy a box with an opening for her to play with some wooden blocks. So by the time she got these cute bunnies, she wasn’t interested anymore. 

    ‘Bedtime for Zoe’ Board Book

    This is an excellent Montessori-aligned book, as the pictures inside are real. It features Zoe, a girl getting ready for bed. We read it frequently since we got it during bedtime, my daughter often asks for it, and she still does now at 18 months old! Definitely a hit here and a note to self to get more realistic books for her. 

    Play Guide Months 13,14 15

    The play guide has some useful information for the parents on what the toys are about and what skills their child would be building at this age. It also offers some DIY activities for your child.

    Lovevery play kits - even siblings can play together!
    Lovevery Play Kits – even siblings can play together!

    The Realist Play Kit (19 to 21 months)

    This is the second Lovevery play kit that we received to review, and we still love the curated collection of high quality educational toys overall. This time we tested The Realist Playkit when our daughter was around 19 months old. The kit is for 19-21 months old, but some of the toys are still being played by my daughter at 24 months! 

    Our Lovevery Experience with the Realist Play Kit

    Did the Lovevery Realistic Play Kit delight us the same as the previous time? I would say it’s a mix of yes and no. Some toys captivated my daughter’s interest and fulfilled my desire for affordable Montessori toys. However, a few toys didn’t quite resonate with my daughter or could benefit from some improvements.

    My favorite “toy” to date from the Play Kit is the torchlight! I have also always wanted to buy an age-appropriate torchlight for my toddlers, but it was challenging to find one that wasn’t too bright for their eyes yet easy for them to handle. This torchlight checks all the boxes. The batteries are screwed in, ensuring safety. The light is dim and safe enough when my daughter stares into it while still being practical for nighttime use by the bedside. The single button for operation is also intuitively easy to use.

    The Lock-Box

    First of all, I am thrilled with the Lockbox, as I have always wanted to get one for my son back then, and never did because I couldn’t find an affordable option. However, there is one aspect of the lockbox that I did not like – the latches are a bit too loose.  I understand that they are designed this way to make it easier for younger babies to operate, but it can be problematic when carrying or moving the box, where the doors may open unexpectedly, and the “treasures” inside may fall out.

    Lovevery Lock-Box
    Lovevery Lock-Box

    Geo-shape puzzles

    This one was clearly too difficult at age 19 months, but at 21 months and more, my daughter start to engage with it enthusiastically. She enjoys putting the puzzle pieces back together and expresses her delight with clapping hands. She also explores different ways to play with it, such as using the closed puzzle piece as a cap on top. It’s a fun toy that facilitates shape learning, I would recommend it for slightly older children.

    Lovevery - Geo-shape Puzzles
    Lovevery – Geo-shape Puzzles

    Grooved jug and glass

    This practical life toy or tool is great, but unfortunately, I have limited time to set out various pouring activities with it. My daughter only did the beans pouring activity with it, which played independently for quite some time after I set it up. Since we were incorporating water pouring using a jug and glass during meal times, we didn’t need that here. I probably should explore more pouring activities with these, as I can see the potential. The design makes it easy for the child to grip and operate. 

    Sensory play with grooved jug and glass from Lovevery
    Sensory play with grooved jug and glass from Lovevery

    Really real torch

    As mentioned, this turned out to be my favourite practical life toy or tool. Even now, when my daughter is two years old, she continues to use it frequently, and I anticipate it will remain a so for a long time. Particularly now that she has a fear of the dark, it’s wonderful that she has the ability to turn on a light when she needs it, as long as she can locate it first. An improvement suggestion could be to incorporate a glow-in-the-dark feature in the torchlight, or we can add a glow sticker ourselves!

    Lovevery Count and Slide Ring Chute with the Really Real Torch at the back!
    Lovevery Count and Slide Ring Chute with the Really Real Torch at the back!

    Count and Slide Ring Chute

    These toys did not capture my daughter’s interest. Somehow, she did not grasp the concept of counting and observing how many rings it took to make one slide down. Instead, she will push one ring and tilt the box to make it slide out. I tried to demonstrate the counting, but she was not interested. I am still considering taking it out again now she’s older, and I will see how it goes. This toy has been replaced in the latest Realist Play Kit set with a Wheel Around the Town Bus. 

    Quilted animal pockets

    I was skeptical about this toy when I unpacked it, but it was the first toy my daughter wanted to play with immediately. I hung it up at her height, and she happily plate with it, taking the animals out and putting them back in. Later, I also teach her all the names of the animals. Now at two years old, after a few months of storage, I took it out again to see, and lo and behold, my daughter happily played with the animals once more, though I don’t appreciate them ending up all over the living room sometimes! 

    Lovevery's Quilted animal pockets
    Lovevery’s Quilted Animal Pockets – my daughter’s favourite

    Book – Colors

    I received a book on colors in the play kit, but I must admit that I prefer the “Bea Gets a Check-Up” book, which now comes with this play kit. At this age, they need to see the doctor often for check-ups; it’s beneficial to have a book that can help us discuss and prepare for these appointments. I find the colors book too simple for my daughter at age 19 months; we have learned about colors and fruits by then, along with other books. We have also moved on to reading longer board books by now, so the colors book is not as captivating anymore.

    Playguide 19 to 21 months

    As usual, there is a lot of good information here, especially for parents who do not have time to scour the internet for activities for their children.

    Verdict: Are Lovevery Play Kits worth it?

    In summary, yes, the Lovevery Play Kits are worth it, especially if you are procuring toys for the first time. It not only saves you time from researching the suitable toys at the right time for your child, but it also saves you money by avoiding all those wrong purchases! 

    Lovevery playthings are thoughtfully designed by early child development experts to match a toddler’s specific developmental stage. The toys are Montessori-aligned and are mainly crafted from natural wood or fabric. Hence they are safer and more durable while providing natural tactile and audible stimulation.

    High-quality materials ensure long-lasting play and safe exploration for your little ones. With multiple children, it becomes an even more valuable investment.

    Plus point: I noticed that the resell value of Lovevery toys remains high. You may even resell individual items at a reasonable price.

    -> Click here to buy Lovevery Play Kit with FREE shipping!

    Lovevery Play Kits Price

    The price of The Babbler Kit as of 2023 is 120 GBP. 

    Although not all the toys (and a book) are equal in price, just for perspective, we get six toys (one, which is essentially 3 in 1), so eight play possibilities in this play kit, one storybook, and a parent play guide book, which comes down to around 11 GBP per toy/book! This is not a hefty price compared to alternative toys we need to try to source out there, and they might not even be of this quality.

    Lovevery babbler play kit

    Who should get Lovevery Play Kits, and when to get it?

    If this is your first child, I recommend pre-ordering your play kits in advance! I am not kidding. The amount of time I spent researching the right toys at the right time for my first child was tremendous. I enjoy researching and testing the various toys, hence the birth of this blog, but if you lack the time or prefer to spend your effort elsewhere, these Lovevery Play Kits may be your savior! 

    You can be sure you are getting quality and durable Montessori-inspired toys that are age-appropriate for your child, which will be delivered right to your doorstep. Which sleep-deprived parent wouldn’t be thankful for that? 

    -> Click here to buy Lovevery Play Kit with FREE shipping!

    How to present the toys from Lovevery Play Kits?

    Fewer toys lead to more meaningful play. A study comparing 4 vs. 16 toys showed fewer options resulted in deeper engagement and more extended exploration. Montessori agrees, advocating for a minimalist approach with neatly arranged toys and regular rotation. Lovevery Play Kits follow this philosophy; introducing toys at the right time and in rotation will ensure lasting enjoyment.

    Also, when you introduce a toy to your child for the first time, take a moment to show them how to play with it as they learn by observing. For added interest, consider offering “undone” toys, like puzzle pieces or stacker rings.

    Montessori Resources

    Montessori Toys – the ultimate guide for at home (0-6 years old)
    Montessori Toilet Training made easy!

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