WHY WE LOVE LOVEVERY PLAY KITS

I knew long before having a baby of my own that I wanted to be intentional about the amount and type of toys brought into our home. Working with dogs has probably influenced my approach more than I’d like to admit. I was taught that you don’t keep endless piles of toys lying around because it kills toy drive. If you rotate toys and limit availability, it builds motivation and desire to play when the opportunity arises.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Ivey has plenty of toys and he has access to them multiple times a day. But we follow the Montessori approach and present 8 to 10 curated playthings on a shelf in his playroom while the rest remain elsewhere. We rotate the toys that are on his shelf about once a week, leaving items he is most drawn to and switching out the others for toys that have been stored away. We also keep a small amount of toys in our living area (including a play kitchen and table) and in our car.

Is our approach perfect by any means? No. Over time will we accumulate a ridiculous amount of toys? Probably. But for now, this approach has been SO helpful in managing chaos and clutter. Ivey makes a big mess every time he plays, BUT it only takes me a minute or two to do a full reset since there are so few items! I can’t imagine trying to keep order in a full room of toys. I’m just not a diligent enough cleaner and that’s not something I have time for while balancing work, mom-ing, and adventuring.

So where does Lovevery come into all of this? Around 3 months or so, Ivey started to show interest in objects and holding things, and at the time we owned zero toys. We hadn’t requested any on our registry and we don’t live close enough to any family to receive hand-me-downs. I knew that I wanted to invest in Montessori or Montessori adjacent toys (or “materials” as they’re often referred to as), and in my search I stumbled on Lovevery. Instead of buying individual items, Lovevery toys come as part of age-based subscription boxes. Every couple of months, a box arrives in the mail chock full of high quality, developmentally appropriate toys.

The toys in these photos are part of the 11 - 12 month play kit, but the fun part is that they don’t lose their relevance after the 12 month point. Sure, Ivey has outgrown some of the toys he’s received, but for the most part they’ve just joined the rotation and we have slowly grown our collection of quality toys. While Ivey and I have both enjoyed the fun of unboxing a new play kit every few months, I love knowing that all of these toys are ready and waiting for our next babe to enjoy them as well!