If you follow me on Facebook you know that I love to share my favorite toys. I don’t believe that children need mountains and mountains of toys. Instead I advocate that homes and classrooms should focus on well-made, open-ended materials that last for many years and span multiple developmental ages. Use this post as a resource for Toys for Children: Quality Over Quantity.
Disclosure: I was contracted by Mama May I to write this post. All opinions are my own.
When parents and educators contact me asking for toy and materials recommendations I give the same advice. Focus on a small amount of well-made items that will span multiple years. Yes, that small plastic figure from your kid’s favorite television show might get an initial WOW factor, but most likely it will soon be forgotten and not worth the money. While people are often initially hesitant about the price of the items I recommend like our wooden unit blocks, I believe that a few quality pieces will cost a lot less in the long run. When Jessica from Mama May I suggested that the Homegrown Friends Community would be a great fit for the products on her site I immediately hopped over to check them out. When someone says handmade, wooden toys I immediately come running!
TOYS FOR CHILDREN: QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
I believe we play with our eyes first. There is a tranquil element to the Mama May I site that makes even the searching of toys a peaceful, enjoyable experience. The first toy that caught my eye was the gorgeous Shoot for the Rainbow. Much to my delight Jessica included this one in the complimentary box of toys I was sent. The rainbows are hand cut by Jessica’s mom (how cool is that?) as well as hand-dyed and packaged in house. If you believe in supporting local businesses this is the real deal.
Small instruction sheets were included with each toy. Instead of explaining the instructions I first added this breathtaking wooden rainbow and balls to our block shelf to see how my children would approach the new materials. Isn’t it just the best addition to our wooden blocks?
After my kids played for a day we “discovered” the instructions together and tried out the Shoot the Rainbow game (similar to croquet). Love that the wooden pieces could be used in such an active way!
Another favorite (and also a perfect addition to our block area!) are the Family Box Little People Playset. Charlotte adored that each wooden person had its own color coordinated fabric blanket. Charlotte was eager to create a very large home for her very little people.
While this set has a lot of little pieces my daughter takes such good care of the items. When a home or classroom has just a few higher quality items it is easier to keep an organized toy area and children are more engaged.
We were also sent the coolest Animal Action Game and it is the perfect addition to our soccer practice nights! Yes, you heard me correctly. There is nothing worse for two little sisters than having to sit with their mama and watch their brother’s soccer practice a Friday night. Enter the Animal Action Game!
All of the images and wording are original designs by the owner of Mama May I. As an educator I appreciate the use of sophisticated language with young children. When my daughter Luca pulled out “Scurry like a crab” we had the chance to talk about the word scurry and try out different body movements to explore the word scurry. You know I love learning that involves movement!
I’m sure you will love exploring the Mama May I shop for yourself. In addition to the toys above I also have my eye on the Peekaboo Acorn Playset, Rainbow Regatta and the Color Sorting Bowls.
photographs from Mama May I
Okay, are you ready for the best part?
Jessica from Mama May I is offering Homegrown Friends Readers $15 OFF purchases of $100 or more using the code HOMEGROWN15. Offer good until September 28, 2015.
GIVEAWAY TIME! Want to have even more fun? Need a special gift for a birthday or an upcoming holiday?
Enter below to WIN a $50 GIFT CARD to buy your favorites at Mama May I. Special thanks to Mama May I for hosting the giveaway. You can follow Mama May I on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
HOW TO ENTER: Fill out your information in the Rafflecopter below. Comment with your favorite toy and stop by our Facebook Page as an additional entry (optional).
Those toys are so gorgeous! I love the animal action chips!!! What a clever idea. I’m so glad to know now about this lovely source of toys. They would make such a good gift.
Aren’t they wonderful? The quality of the wood is amazing!
The animal action game looks so fun. What a great way to work on reading with picture prompts and build gross motor skills. I love the idea of the rainbow rings and colored balls being incorporated into block play too.
Shoot for the rainbow
I am so sad that I have just found this site. There are so many amazing toys that my son would love! I would love to outfit my Kindergarten classroom in these products! The animal action game would be a great way to get my class moving throughout the day!
What a wonderful giveaway! I think that my kids would love the Little People set!
I love the rainbow regatta pictured above. If by favorite toy, you mean one that we already own, I would probably say his lego duplo animal collection. Nice quality and they are played with practically every single day! What a great giveaway! Thank you
I love these toys and would be thrilled to have them in the Early Ages classroom at the school I work in.
I I’ve the Rainbow Regatta…but can see many possibilities for the sorting bowls!
I love anything with rainbow colors, and my son and I are big into sorting stuff–those little rainbow colored bowls would be awesome in a Montessori classroom!
Stacking rainbow… But we love everything 🙂
Animal action looks fun
Love the Family box, but I think my 3yo would be in love with the gnome men too!
Love the family box, but I think the gnome men would be a favorite for my 3yo!
LOVE the animal action disc but they all look amazing!
I love these toys! Shoot for the rainbow and animal action look particularly fun for my little ones!
The toys are beautiful! I love the animal action game and the color sorting bowls. Really–they would all be great additions to my children’s toy shelf.
These look gorgeous! The rainbow really caught my eye.
My daughter would have so much fun with the Animal Actions, such a cute idea!
I love the wooden rainbow. I remember playing with something similar when I was a little girl.
Those wooden boats are adorable!
I would get the most use out of any of the Make A Match sets!
The first item that caught my eye was “Shoot for the Rainbow”. The colors, the shapes, the different sizes of the shapes … It could be used for several lessons and different ages.
My boys would love the Rainbow Regatta! And we would all enjoy the “Rainbow”.
I love the peekaboo acorn set
All of these toys are great, especially the peekaboo acorn set.
I am loving the Peekaboo Acorn Play Set! I really enjoy classic toys and wooden toys always are a hit with my kiddos!
What perfectly delightful toys. My students and I would love them in my prek classroom.
My favorite toy was a wind-up stuffed animal that tinkled a simply lullaby. Now I really love wooden blocks! My son (3) and I play with them for hours, and incorporate any and all other household items into our play.
My kids would love the animal action game. What a great idea for entertaining younger siblings during soccer practices!
I love the Balance Balls! I could definitely see my son being totally enthralled with these! I absolutely love this site and their toys, thanks for making me aware of them!
The rainbow arches and wooden spheres – the possibilities for open ended play are awesome.
I love all of these! I’ve been purging a lot of plastic junk lately and with birthdays and Christmas coming up I have a feeling a few of these toys will make their way into my home. I’m loving the Animal Action game!
The acorn plaster would be great for my montessori
I love Shoot the Rainbow or Animal Action! 🙂
We love the rainbow, we also have a birthday coming the animal game would be perfect for!
Shoot for the rainbow is simply gorgeous!
I think the Rainbow Regatta is PRECIOUS! My son would love it! In fact, we are actually working on recognizing colors right now – so something like this would be perfect!!!!
I like the Balance Birds.
Wow!! These things are wonderful!! I would definitely pick up any of the Make a Match and I absolutely LOVE the rainbow ring and the heart crayon ring!!
Their Chickadee playsets are adorable!
I love the balance birds, the counting stars, and the lacing beads.
Colored Cups and Balls Playset is my favorite toy! My son would love these!
Fantastic toys! I specifically love the animal action chips. What a creative idea!
My favorite is the Shoot for the Rainbow.
I love the wooden rainbow, but I think my daughter would love the boats!
My favorite toy is the Bag of Bags toy.
I think the lacing apple tree is darling.
I love There Once Was a Crooked Rainbow. Such bright colors and I love the crookedness of it.
Thanks for the contest.
I like shoot for the rainbow best
i love them all but i think the animal action chips would be a favorite for my son
The Shoot for the Rainbow toy us my absolute favorite. I know for sure that my son would get a LOT of play out of it and not to mention it is really a beautiful toy. I entered the contest in hopes of being able to gift that to my little guy so my fingers are crossed! I actually read your article the other day but came back to enter the drawing today since I saw it on my FB feed 🙂 We just weeded through my son’s toys because I do want to aim for quality v quantity. Under the entry form I couldn’t access the comment portion so I submitted my entry then came back on here to leave a comment. Hope that’s ok!
I love wooden toys. The balance balls look great. Love the color matching too.
I think the Make a match-Dino would be fun for my son. I used to love matching games as a child.
All the toys are so bright and beautiful, but the rainbow toy appeals the most. It seems it could be used in a lot of different imaginative ways!
I like the Sound Bird – Disco!
I love the Animal Action coin-type things. They are so cute and perfect for my nephew.
I love the toddler color sorting balls! These toys look just wonderful and my son would love them. Thank you for the chance to win!
I really love the Waldorf-quality these have. I think my favorite is the sugar and spice fiddle fab–so many tags to rub and play with for baby!
The little people. They would be perfect in my daughters doll house.
Wow those toys are gorgeous. I know my girls would have fun for hours with the Sensory Box – Explore With Me Sensory Bin Starter Set
I love animal action
I absolutely love the shoot the rainbow game!
I love the Shoot for the Rainbow set. The toys are absolutely lovely! I bet they smell good too 🙂
I love the sensory bin starter kit. I’ve been wanting to do more sensory activites but never take the time to make a bin.
My favorite toy is the Peekaboo Acorn Play Set!
My favorite is the Nature Make A Match Game Toy
I like the family box. It is really cute!
I love the shoot for the rainbow set! <3
i like the animal action set
Rainbow set looks good for steam activity also.
My son would love the balancing birds!
I really love the Animal Action toy! It looks so much fun!
Thank You for the chance
I really like the sensory color sorting playset. Looks great for rainy days!
We like Lego’s. So may fun possibilities:)
The favorites in our house right now are magnet tiles and animals…so much creativity happening!! These all look beautiful!