Toys

We've got the perfect game to empower them to declutter their belongings without any arguments. Bonus: this is a GREAT time to practice some before-holiday minimizing.

High-quality kids' furniture and products at deep discounts? It's every parent's dream.

We've got the cutest picks around from one of our very favorite kids' brands. And they are all at steep discounts!

Their adorable reactions will be an added bonus!

From adorable play kitchens they won't be able to resist to awesome inflatable bounce houses and tablets galore, these are Walmart's all-star deals.

We really missed you, Toys”R”Us, and we’re so happy that you’re back! Every millennial has a soft spot in their hearts for this beloved toy store, and it was pretty heartbreaking when the company closed their brick and mortar storefronts a few years ago. But just in time for the 2021 holiday season, Toys”R”Us has made its official comeback with Macy’s.

Must-have furniture, baby gear, toys, and so much more — at steep discounts.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! Every time I saw an ad for the Yoto Player peppering my social media feed, I was totally fascinated. Bright, colorful, completely kid-controlled — what’s not to love?

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. We all want our kids to get outside and be active. We also long for those seemingly elusive toys that allow our kids to play while we sit back and relax. Enter: active toys with wheels.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. I know exactly what toys my soon-to-be 5-year-old wants at all times — except for when her birthday actually rolls around. All the grandparents and aunties call to ask what to get her, and frankly — I’ve forgotten almost everything we talked about over the past year.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. The first blush of warm weather always feels like a rebirth to me, but with hope for the pandemic’s abatement on the horizon (huzzah!), I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for summer.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. When we first started bathing our son in the regular tub instead of the bitsy infant one, he was so excited that he was allllllll over the place — pulling himself up here, bonking his head there. Add water to the mix and it was nothing short of terrifying.

My Nick is about to turn 9 years old! He’s very artistic and creative. What’s a unique present that only you would know about? NellDear Nell,You’ve come to the right place because, as you may know, I love to find weird and interesting things to give away and delight people (AND it also makes for a very easy column this week :)).

As a parent considered very high-risk, in this past year we could not take shortcuts when it came to safety. That meant, all social gatherings for my kids always included being outdoors, wearing masks, and keeping at least six feet apart (if not much farther). And I found myself wondering: How do I enforce the rules while still encouraging effortless fun?At first, it was a challenge.

Ours is a LEGO-loving family. My wife and I both collected them as kids. I took fastidious care of my LEGO sets, and still have all of my models and their instructions, plus a small (very small!) list of pieces that have been lost over the years. As with many families, LEGOs make for easy gifts, especially with the advent of licensed sets like Star Wars and Marvel; they make regular appearances at Christmas and birthdays in our house.

Water is the ultimate sensory play experience for kids, but, when you’re in the midst of a pandemic in winter (and in my case, holed up in a New York City apartment), there’s no pool, sprinkler, or ocean on offer. However, you still have two options for water play: One is bath time, of course, and the other is what I like to call “Mix and Measure Time.

In my house, we’ve been hearing a lot of complaints from our son lately that his toys are “boring” (and this is after the influx of new Christmas gifts!). Despite the fact that he hasn’t played inside at a friends house in going on ten months, he seems to have a photographic memory of his friends’ supposedly superior toy collections.

From new twists on blocks and puzzles to design-minded collectables, independent toy store owners have a pulse on what their young clients love. And with real humans at the helm, each store has its own specialty and point of view—meaning, find the shop that speaks to your child, and you’ve got a curated selection of items to please them. We reached out to seven independent toy shops across the country to see what they’d recommend for holiday gifts for 2020.

Active play is one-hundred percent a need for us. Particularly in California, where we’ve had wildfires keeping us indoors, I know so many parents of young toddlers that are struggling to find the right things to do with their kids in small apartments that don’t leave everyone bored, stir-crazy, and counting the hours until bedtime by the end of day.

From the "ring of neglect" to the brainy workbook Chrissy Teigen loves.