Lovevery Review 5: The Exployer Play Kit Months 9-10
October 10, 2023
Disclaimer
My son was born prematurely. He was born at 26 weeks and 6 days (3 months and 1 day early). If this box is for a baby 9-10 months, that means it should have worked for Aryi at 12-13 months, in theory. I feel that all of this makes our experience with development and play particularly unique, and our thoughts on the playkits particularly unique.
At the time of filming this video, I said that Lovevery has no music stuff. They just came out with an entire music kit, so please ignore that statement.
Play Guide Months 9-10
I talk about how amazing this guide is in every post. It gives great information on milestones. Again, I use this information not to compare my son and feel like he is so behind, but to see what we should be working on. There is great information about how to use each of the toys. There are even extra ways you can play with your child.
Lovevery: $0.00 not included in price breakdown
Stainless Steel Tip and Turn with Ball
Aryi still does not get this in the sense of a turning top and how he can make it turn. He gets that it is supposed to turn and Mommy can make it turn. He gets that the ball can go around and around. He will put the ball in it and push it around and around in a circle. Since we got our kit they have added this plastic topper so the ball does not spin out. I am glad ours does not have that since the most fun Aryi has with this toy is pushing the ball around the circle.
The dupe I found is two tiered with two balls. It is a few dollars cheaper.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $6.99
Clear Tube with Stacking Rings
Aryi still does not use this stacker to stack. As a stacker, this toy kind of sucks. I love the little lovevery stacker you can get at target. We also have a regular plastic stacker from amazon, that works way better as a stacker. However, this toy has really grown with Aryi as he has gotten older. Aryi likes to put the circles on his arms as bracelets. He learned to say the word circle because of playing with these. We count the circles. I tell him “1 circle, 2 circles, 3 circles”. Aryi says “two, tee,tee,tee” as he pretends to count. Aryi loves to put his scarves and napkins through the tube. He is learning the concept of through thanks to this tube. He loves to put his cars and balls through the tube. So, yes this toy sucks as a stacker. But, it has been proven to be a great toy to have.
The dupe I found on amazon is basically the same price. However, the only thing you can really do with the stacker toy is stack. We have both, and in my opinion both toys have really added to Aryi’s development.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $10.99
Montessori Egg Cup
At first Aryi thought the Egg was a ball. He called it a ball. He switched out the egg for the ball that came in an earlier kit. It fits, so he thinks it is correct. Now, he understands it is an egg, not a ball. That makes him want to pretend to eat it and put it with his food (which I think is adorable). All of that to say, this is never really used as a puzzle, especially anymore, since now it is an egg that you pretend to eat, or give stuffies to eat.
You can get a set of the egg puzzle and a pincer puzzle on amazon for about $20 making it about the same price if you are counting it up against the egg puzzle and the pincer puzzle from Lovevery.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $20.99
Stainless Steel Jingle Keys
Aryi loves to use these keys as a teether. With the ring being so big, but also thin, he can really get it in the right spot. He also likes to jingle them. They are a little bit musical, and Aryi is very musical. I love these because most baby keys you find are plastic. The metal on these though gets cold sitting out and probably feels so nice when he goes to teethe on them again.
The dupe I found on amazon has a smaller ring with bigger “keys”. It is almost 4 times more expensive than the Lovevery keys, but I don’t think you could get any better than the Lovevery ones.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $39.99
Little Grip Canister Set
The progress with these cups is crazy. He could not open any of these cups. Now he can open 2 of them. There is a stacker you get in a later box that has rings that match the cup lids. I like to use this for color learning. The rings fit so perfectly in the little cups. I put them in and show him that this is blue or purple or green. Aryi also just loves to put his random toys in these cups. His carrots and bunnies from other lovevery kits are often inside them. These are wonderful and really grow with your child. Aryi loves cups and containers, so I really like this toy for him. It has become one of our favorites.
I don’t even want to talk about the dupe I found. Yeah, it is stacking containers. But not with the practice of opening different types of lids.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $16.99
“How I Feel”
Aryi did not get other people’s at the time of this box. I do feel like this would be a way to early box for any kind of understanding of emotion in general for most babies. I do notice this is some of the box, but usually the toys that are in an earlier box then I think appropriate turn out to be favorites later when they become more appropriate for his age. All of this siad, this book is full of diverse beautiful children, and that is exactly what Aryi likes in a book. So, like all of the other Lovevery books, this one is a hit. Aryi is just now at almost 1 and a half starting to understand the upset faces. He will notice and point when a baby in one of his books is crying or upset. I think this means he is starting to put some of the pieces together about emotions.
The dupe I found is also real babies and looks like there is some nice diversity in that book too. It is a few dollars cheaper as well.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $8.09
First Blocks
I love Lovevery blocks. We have the block set. The paint they use is so vibrant and beautiful. At first when Aryi got the blocks he was just banging them together. It is crazy to watch the transition from that to him now building a tower of like 10 blocks and then knocking it down so he can say “uh oh”. If you have the block kit these are totally unnecessary and extra. I just put them with the rest of the blocks now and bring it all out together.
I couldn’t find 3 blocks anywhere, but I found a set of blocks in beautiful rainbow colors like the lovevery ones. It comes in a set of 100 and is $24. Having only 3 blocks never made sense to me though. The child will grow and want a lot. If you have an entire block set, you can bring out how many you need until the child is ready for the entire set.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $23.99
Bright and Light Play Scarf
We love this scarf. Aryi will play peek-a-boo over and over with us with this scarf. He also loves to put it through that clear tube talked about earlier. This is a favorite. It does seem to be a bit strange to me that this scarf is not in the same kit as the peek-a-boo book. That seems like a little bit of a missed opportunity to me. I always display them together. This keeps Aryi happy for so long.
The amazon dupes are a few dollars cheaper, and you get way more. However, the quality is unbeatable. We have an amazon set of scarves and they are scratchy and uncomfortable to have over your face. The Lovevery scarf is soft and smooth like butter.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $8.95
“Plant A Seed, Watch It Grow”
Aryi is getting into this book now. He especially loves to feed the bunny and play with the dog. He loves his back packs so that part is fun too. But this is just way too advanced. No way anyone’s 9 month old is loving this book.
The amazon dupe I found was like $7 more expensive.
Lovevery: $9.40
Amazon Dupe: $16.00
“Squish!”
Aryi loves this book. He loves to see the babies. He likes to hold it himself and flip through. This book is so much fun.
You can get a box of 12 little books like this for a few more dollars on Amazon. The only thing you are missing is the babies.
Lovevery: $9.40
Amazon Dupe: $12.58
Worth it?
Amazon Dupes total out to be $180.78 after taxes are added.
The Lovevery Playkits come in a few buying options(8 items/playkit and 2 items/book bundle):
$80 for 1 box ($83.56 after taxes) – $10.45/item
$98 for 1 box with book bundle ($102.36 after taxes) – $10.45/item + $9.40/book bundle item
$228 for 3 boxes ($238.14 after taxes) – $9.92/item
$282 for 3 boxes with book bundle ($294.54 after taxes) – $9.92/item + $9.40/book bundle item
$432 for 6 boxes ($451.20 after taxes) – $9.40/item
$540 for 6 boxes with book bundle ($564.00 after taxes) – $9.40/item + $9.40/book bundle item
Overall we really love Lovevery and we really love the toys in this kit. I regret not waiting a little longer to film this video, because the Lovevery toys really do grow with the babies. A lot of the toys we did not use at first have since become favorites. I think there was a big problem with age appropriateness in this box. None of these toys were for 9-10 month old kids. It is like they were thinking we gave them everything they need up until this age, but we don’t have anything for them at this age, so we will put in stuff they can use later. That isn’t why you get a subscription. You get a subscription to get the appropriate toys at the appropriate time for development.
Our favorite toys from this kit include the stacking rings with the clear tube, jingle keys, canister cup, first blocks, playscarf, and all of the books. But, most of these toys had to grow on us. They were not age appropriate at 9-10 or even 12-13 months, at least for our son.
The only thing I can really say I would be happy to do without is the Tip and turn. To me, this kit was worth it.
Lovevery: $102.36
Amazon Dupe: $180.78
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