Our little ones are born to play. We love the quote from Maria Montessori that "play is the work of children." The problem with so many kids toys is that they do all the playing for our little ones, not the other way around. In order to benefit from play, children need to move their bodies, build things, create things, imagine things. This simply cannot be done by watching screens, pushing buttons on light up toys, or watching automated toys roll around for them.
Here at Little Wares, you'll see the array of toys & books we carry is entirely purposeful. We carry toys that can be played with in a variety of ways, with no way being right or wrong. Most of our toys are appropriate for all ages of kids. Here's what you'll notice about our selection of toys, books, games & puzzles:
We don't carry electronic toys or screens. These things can be great tools, but when our children are little, they really don't need these things. They are physically limiting and mentally limiting. We believe that "screen-time" should be extremely limited and when used, it should only be on a big screen (as opposed to a phone or tablet) with shows that reinforce the same values and beliefs you hold as a family.
You'll notice, especially in our item descriptions, that we carry screen-free activities that you can use in the car or in places we need to keep our little ones occupied like restaurants or doctor's offices. Our materials help your child to remain engaged and excited without needing to resort to screen time.
We don't carry a huge amount of toys. This is intentional. You don't need tons and tons of toys to keep your child playing. There are two important reasons for this, the first being that it's okay for your child to be bored. Learning to initiate play is a skill that must be learned. Everyday ebbs and flows, and your child needs to learn to follow their internal rhythm. So if they're feeling bored, but still want to play, they need to learn to utilize their existing assortment of materials in a new way to play.
Our other reason we don't carry tons of toys is because...are you ready for this revolutionary statement? Kids play with anything. Your baby prefers to chew on your old wooden spoon instead of their expensive teething toy? Your toddler would rather pour water back and forth between empty jars than play with any number of the expensive toddler toys right in front of them?
Kids don't need lots of toys, or fancy toys, to play. There are so many creative, yet easy ways for kids to play that don't require you to buy anything. So going back to our minimalist & essentials-only beliefs, we really only want to offer toys that we feel are essential for play on Little Wares.
We would be nowhere without the wonderful community of professionals on Instagram that inspire us everyday. Check out some of our favorite Instagram accounts for play-related ideas & education:
