Lovevery Playkit Subscription Review: Worth It in 2023? [UPDATE]

Wondering if the Lovevery Play Kit Subscription is worth it? In short: YES!

After having the Lovevery Play Kit Subscription since 2018, with two kids, I can 100% say they are worth it. I've even compared Lovevery vs. Amazon alternatives and other montessori subscription boxes like KiwiCo and Monti Kids to see if the price tag for these educational toys holds up, and it does.

Below, you'll discover everything you need to know about Lovevery to decide if it's worth it for your family. Plus links to all the individual play kit reviews where you can see how Lovevery compares to Amazon, with links to self curate with the cheapest alternative too!

Originally published 7/6/2020 updated 10/23/22

Lovevery review video:

The baby toys and toddlers toys are high quality, last well beyond the intended age range, and can be used on their own or for tons of montessori at home activities!

Everything is really aesthetically pleasing, easy to clean and organize, and engaging for baby through the toddler years.

Plus, as a new parent, having the waldorf and montessori toy subscription box delivered to our door at the right time with the right toys saved us from decision fatigue and researching!

Even better, they keep clutter to a minimum (we tell people, not to get us toys, just their favorite children's books) since we already had everything we needed. Their award-winning play products have been a big hit with both of our kids, and ultimately saved us money compared to buying the montessori toys separately.

They focus on meeting that are developmentally appropriate to your child's age. Plus they've made things easy as all the toys are already selected for you and are backed by research to support your child at each stage of their development.

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Make sure to subscribe to my Youtube Channel to catch all the Lovevery Play Kit unboxings + loads more ideas for keeping your toddler entertained!

What are Lovevery Play Kits?

Lovevery Play Kits are a waldorf and montessori inspired subscription box full of developmental toys designed and curated by a team of experts. Lovevery's kits are delivered based on your child's age to meet their developmental stage.

For instance, newborns only see in black and white, so the Looker play kit comes with high-contrast black and white images, mirror cards, and other natural materials. They provide all the developmental toys a child needs to thrive for the best start.

The first year of baby play kits are delivered every other month (6 total), and then the toddler play kits are delivered quarterly (four a year).

Backed by research:

Lovevery works with a team of experts to carefully create and curate their educational toys. These focus on baby and toddler milestones to meet your child at each stage of development.

They work with academics, researchers on baby brain development, psychologists, montessori experts, and occupational therapists in designing their products! You can see who they work with and their credentials here.

The play guide:

Inside of each play kit, is a little explainer book known as the play guide. The play guide talks about why they included the toy, suggestions for different ways to (re)imagine playing with it, and insights about the skill your baby or toddler is developing at that stage.

From my personal experience, I felt a great peace of mind with my young children, knowing inside of every play kit was the play guide. It's like a little added bonus for new moms and dads to have helpful child development info, ways to play with the toys, and activity ideas for that stage.

I always say the Lovevery play guide is the Spark Notes version of parenting that stage for those of us without much time to read all the attachment theory, discipline, or montessori parenting books.

Are Lovevery toys toxic?

No! They are some of the cleanest non-toxic toys and ethically sourced toys on the market in fact.

I've compared all of Lovevery's toys to Amazon alternatives and I have to say, there is a huge difference in quality and toxicity between Lovevery's and competitors.

Lovevery uses FSC sustainable sourced wood, organic cotton, nontoxic paint, soy based inks, and baby safe plastic. You can read more about their sustainability initiatives here.

The materials are so high quality too! They sustainably source the wood, use certified organic materials, the ink is soy based, and they use baby-safe plastics!

What is the Lovevery Book Bundle?

The Lovevery book bundle is a new add-on service to their play kit subscription.

You must be a play kit subscriber and receive that specific play kit in order to receive the book bundle books associated with it for an additional $18 per play kit.

You can find my detailed breakdown of each bundle and whether or not I like it in this post: Lovevery Book Bundle Review! Full List Lovevery Book List.

Additionally, click here for Lovevery read alongs of the books to see if you want to add them on or not.

Are the Lovevery Play Kits worth it financially?

Yes! Not only are they high quality and designed by experts to engage your baby or toddler for hours, they are a good financial deal! They come in between $8-10 per toy during the first year, then around $15 a toy in the toddler play kits.

Of course, not all the toys are equally valued. For instance a wooden spinning drum in The Senser Play Kit could cost anywhere from $25 to $45 depending on which Amazon dupe you purchase while the Amazon dupe for Lovevery's Sensory socks in that box could be purchased for $12.

Lovevery vs Amazon / Curating It Yourself

Of Lovevery's 18 play kits, I've only found 2 that can truly be recreated for less with dupes on Amazon, but then you are losing out on the quality and clean materials that Lovevery offers in those instances.

Depending on how you look at it, the montessori drop box on Amazon, is about $30! But when you factor the price of the whole Lovevery Play Kit, it comes out to about $8 in their toy box!

You can find those Amazon + Etsy dupes linked in my individual Lovevery Play Kit Reviews:

Detailed review for each Lovevery Play Kit include how to recreate it:

The Looker Play Kit for weeks 0-8

The Charmer Play Kit for months 3-4

The Senser Play Kit for months 5-6

The Inspector Play Kit for months 7-8

The Explorer Play Kit for months 9-10

The Thinker Play Kit for months 11-12

The Babbler Play Kit for months 13, 14, 15

The Adventurer Play Kit for months 16, 17, 18

The Realist Play Kit for months 19, 20, 21

The Companion Play Kit for months 22, 23, 24

Lovevery The Helper Play Kit Review For 25, 26, 27 Months: Worth It?

Lovevery The Enthusiast Play Kit Review For 28, 29, 30 Months

Lovevery The Investigator Play Kit Review For 31, 32, 33 Months

The Free Spirit Play Kit for months 34, 35, 36

Lovevery Observer Play Kit Review for 37, 38, 39 months

Lovevery Storyteller Play Kit Review for 40, 41, 42 months

Lovevery Problem Solver Play Kit Review for 43, 44, 45

Lovevery Analyst Play Kit Review for 46, 47, 48 months

FAQs About Lovevery Play Kits:

Can you just buy one Lovevery play kit?

Yes! You can buy just one Lovevery play kit then cancel your subscription.

How much do Lovevery play kits cost?

Lovevery play kits cost $80 during the 0 to 12 month range for babies, and then $120 per play kit between 1-3 years old.

Lovevery likes to say they cost $40 a month since the play kits ship every other month during the first year, and quarterly the subsequent years.

You can get 10% off by paying for a subscription upfront here.

I know I felt a little sticker shock when I saw the play kit subscription boxes ranging from $72-120 a box; but when you do the math, it comes out to about $8-10 a toy (depending on the kit and whether or not use take advantage of the 10% discount they offer!)

BONUS: Since they are a done for your toy subscription service, you'll save a ton of time researching toys and debating over the best ones to buy your baby or toddler!

Seriously if you're anything like me you know this is invaluable! Say goodbye to decision fatigue and wasted timed! And hello to actually getting a moment to relax when the baby goes down for a nap!

Can you buy Lovevery toys separately?

Yes, you can buy a couple handfuls of toys from Lovevery separately here on their website, as well as through their exclusive Target line here.

But the toys in the play kits can only be accessed through a play kit subscription here. When you subscribe to the play kits you can get access to a “shop” page where you can buy individual items from past and current play kits (all the details on that here).

Lastly, over the years Lovevery has made product updates. As a subscriber on the Lovevery website you'll get access to the subscriber shop where any of the previous play kits toys that have been retired (while you were subscribed) can be purchased separately. Additionally, if you already received your play kit and they added new Lovevery items, you could purchase new ones.

This was huge where a lot of people opted to get the Carrot lid box in the updated version of the play kit, without having to re-purchase it and end up with two ball run toys.

A look at couple of Lovevery's individual toys:

Lovevery Block Set:

As our first blocks, we got their block set, an item that you can purchase separately, and LOVE it. I saw on Jessica's IG that they are thinking about doing a “add on” pack for it even, which I'm excited about! The shape sorter lid is perfect for little hands. Additionally, it converts to a pull toy and you can make a little Lovevery slide using the ramp in the kit. It's really fantastic.

IMO, this is the best block set for toddlers out there. You can re-imagine it into 20 different ways of playing. The box it comes in can transform into a pull car. It has tiny people, toggle strings, a shape sorter, and so much more.

Lovevery Play Gym:

We also have their play gym which we adore. You can start the play gym literally from the day you bring baby home! We used it a ton during the first year and now that my daughter's a toddler, I'll take it out every few months and R still goes wild for it.

With that said, with my second we did not use the Lovevery Play Gym nearly as much. He struggled with reflux/colic and couldn't be laid down on his back for a couple of months at which point the Monti Kids activity gym was our saving grace as we could slide him under it in a bouncer.

What if I'm choosing between the Lovevery Play Gym and Play Kits?

I'd recommend the play kits over the play gym.

We loved our play gym with my first and got use out of it thanks to the “tent” feature for a solid two years, but we ended up getting a Pikler Triangle for R's first birthday and put a blanket over that to create a tent. And with my second child, he struggled to lay on his back on the floor due to reflux symptoms so we preferred the Monti Kids activity gym. Plus, I found it annoying to move around the house with the attached playmat flopping around the activity gym. I'd rather lay out a swaddle blanket and be able to lift the play gym on it's own.

Now with that said, if your baby is colic and reflux free and you plan to leave your set up in one place, I do believe Lovevery's play gym is 100% the best option on the market with an attached floor mat. It's amazing for tummy time, hanging out, and development and toddlers LOVE the tent feature.

Can you buy used Lovevery Play Kits?

Absolutely! The toys are high quality and designed to last for years to come. Many people resell their Lovevery play kit toys once their child has outgrown them so check your local listings, Ebay, and Mercari.

With that said, if you can't find what you want, you can always buy Lovevery Play Kits and resell your items too (you'll see they have AMAZING resell value) to make back some of your money!

But will my baby or toddler actually enjoy the Lovevery play kits?

YES! Again, they are designed by child development experts and kid tested.

Jessica Rolph is the CEO and co-founder, she has 3 littles one. Seriously, follow her on IG she gives tons of awesome parenting and play tips!

Anyway I digress… when I was pregnant, I had big dreams like many first time moms: all wooden, montessori based toys to help my child develop.

And I got SO many eye rolls from parents. They would tell me things like:

“Just you wait until baby arrives, you'll see they only want to play with the things that light up and make noise! Your kid will have no interest in wooden toys!”

WRONG!

And Lovevery's play kits proved that. On average, at a year and a half my daughter played with items for 30 minute stretches on her own with her toys from these play kits. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

Part of that is the toys, part of that is because we took the time to model and encourage independent play with them for her, and part of that is utilize toy rotation <– parenting hack you need in your life!!

But the bottom line is, yes, our daughter loves them and prefers them over the 2 light up/noise making toys she has.

I have a newborn, when should I start my Lovevery subscription?

Start with The Senser Play Kit for 5 to 6 month olds.

Before having my second, my recommendation was if you financially can, I'd start with the Looker Play Kit for 0-12 weeks. So why the change?

My son struggled with reflux symptoms and colic. We couldn't put him down on his back and my postpartum body needed a break from carrying all 10 chunky pounds of him in that fourth trimester! We ended up getting the Monti Kids Level 1 Box which comes with an activity gym.

Yes, it's pricier than Lovevery at a glance, but you'll see in my Lovevery's The Looker + Play Gym vs. Monti Kids Level 1 post the cost breakdown is actually quite similar and Monti Kids offer some different value that I found priceless during those reflux days.

Now if you are like, “Eh newborns don't really need toys, when should I buy if I'm a frugal mama taking a truly minimalist approach and holding off on buying toys for my baby for as long as possible?”

Then I'd say start with the Inspector Play Kit for months 7-8.

The toys in the Inspector Play Kit are, IMO, the turning point from newborn to play fiend. Maybe it's because my daughter started crawling at 6 months? Maybe it's just where kids are at in their development? All I can say is that 3 years later, my toddler STILL pulls out items from the Inspector and it's 10/10 a must have in our home.

Is Lovevery montessori?

Yes and no.

Lovevery is inspired by both Waldorf and Montessori – however they feature a wide array of items that were not created by Dr. Maria Montessori.

Many of their toys follow the montessori principle “control of error” meaning they self correct so the child can spot a mistake. The toys tend to follow montessori sensitive periods as well. They also feature rich sensory experiences and wooden toys that Montessori herself would've likely approved of.

However, Lovevery is not the most montessori subscription box of toys out there. If you're looking for that, Monti Kids is going to be the best pick as all of their items are designed by certified Montessori teachers.

How do you clean your Lovevery toys?

Honestly cleaning the toys from the play kits is really SO easy!

Since they are all well made, you can either toss them in the wash (I always wash things on cold, and tumble dry on low heat).

Or just use a little soap and water on a soft cloth to wipe them down.

Since the toys generally have clean lines and not a ton of parts, they are easy to wipe down.

The hardest one (which wasn't really hard) to clean was the “slide and sleek ball run” from The Babbler Play Kit. My daughter decided to put her muffin down the slide to see if it'd work… only crumbs got in where the plastic opening screws into the wooden staff. I just got in there with a q-tip and it came out really easy. It's like they made it a wide opening because they knew parents would need to clean it haha!

What are the best Lovevery toys?

Honestly, there's so many great toys it's hard to choose. But the top three we've gotten the most use out of consistently with BOTH kids are:

The “slide and sleek ball run” from The Babbler Play Kit has always been a hit with both of my kids. They love the ball drop watching it go around the slide.

The flexible wooden stacker, also from the Babbler, has also been a favorite. It features circular wooden puzzle pieces that work fine motor skills and balance as well. We've used the actual posting portion for tons of activities as well.

In the Inspector play kit, the object permanence box has been one of our most used items too. It's great for teaching object permanence, but my older toddler loves using it for pretend play with the block set as a “house” or “barn.”

Lovevery vs. KiwiCo vs Monti Kids: Which is the best montessori toy box subscription?

Personally, as a whole, Lovevery wins for us.

In Lovevery vs. Kiwico vs. Monti Kids vs Self Curating I break down each brands “superlatives” and give you all the information you need to make the right choice for your family.

But in short: Lovevery is the middle of the road with pricing, best quality, and most aesthetically pleasing.

Do you have a Lovevery Discount code?

Lovevery offers 10% off on your play kits when you click here as an option at step 2 of the checkout process!

Can I skip a Lovevery box?

Yes, you can skip or cancel under “manage subscriptions.” I've found their customer service to be really good too if you have any problems!

How do I cancel my Lovevery subscription?

Lovevery makes everything SO simple. If you ever have questions, all the information you need can be found here or in the footer of their website.

To cancel your Lovevery play kit subscriptions you simply login to your account and navigate to Manage Subscriptions.

Things to know: You can stop the shipment of your next Play Kit up to 3 days before the ship date. If utilized the “pay up front” option when subscribing to receive a discount on Lovevery Play Kits, you will be refunded the purchase price of the Play Kits that you haven't received yet, but you will lose out on the discounted price.

You can also contact: heretohelp@lovevery.com if you have any issues!

Updates to Lovevery play kits:

At the end of September 2020, Lovevery updated their toddler “1 year old” play kits (13-24 months) and as well as many of their first year play kits too that led to a slew of negative Lovevery reviews and unhappy customers.

This change caught a lot of my readers (and myself) by surprise. They essentially cut the amount of toys received in those play kits in half. Bringing the average cost per toy from $7-9 to $15-20.

As far as the changes they've made to the playkits, it's honestly disappointing, but I'm also not surprised. The former versions of those play kits were a STEAL. I mean comparable toys on Amazon often times cost at least 50% more and were worse quality than what you got in the Lovevery play kits.

With this change, they also opened up a “shop” where you can buy discontinued and current play kit items (all the details here).

Which Updated Lovevery Play Kits To Get + Skip in 2023:

NOTE: This is strictly my recommendation based on the price of Lovevery vs. the price Amazon or Etsy or KiwiCo. Not Lovevery vs. Monti Kids!

The Looker Play Kit for weeks 0-8: The Looker is significantly cheaper than Amazon dupes + I would still recommend it after their changes.

The Charmer Play Kit for months 3-4 – Still recommend this over Amazon even after their changes.

The Senser Play Kit for months 5-6 – Still recommend this over dupes even after their changes.

The Inspector Play Kit for months 7-8 – One of our favorites!! HIGHLY recommend this over dupes even after their changes.

The Explorer Play Kit for months 9-10 – This got a huge upgrade actually and I recommend over the dupes.

The Thinker Play Kit for months 11-12 – 100% Recommend over the others

The Babbler Play Kit for months 13, 14, 15 is still 100% worth it IMO. The items in it will REALLY last and are some of my favorites. At 20 months my daughter is now able to take the bottom off the “coin box” and I think would LOVE the changeable tops…

The Adventurer Play Kit for months 16, 17, 18 – SKIP! I don’t think it’s worth $120 AT ALL and am really disappointed in this change. It can be recreated for around $80-100.

The Realist Play Kit for months 19, 20, 21 – Financially it's worth it, but I don't love the changes.

The Companion Play Kit for months 22, 23, 24 – This is a little tricky. Technically you can recreate it for less, but it's NOT the same so I'd recommend Lovevery still.

Lovevery The Helper Play Kit Review For 25, 26, 27 Months: Worth It? – Recommend – better price + quality than dupes.

Lovevery The Enthusiast Play Kit Review For 28, 29, 30 Months – This is a tricky one too. Technically you can recreate it for less, but since there are quite a few activities in this one, it would be more labor intensive on parents. If you are looking for a quick time saving”done for you” solution then definitely get it. If you have a well stock craft room and cricut, then possibly skip it. Furthermore, Lovevery is better quality than the similar items linked!

Lovevery The Investigator Play Kit Review For 31, 32, 33 Months – The dupes on this are essentially a break even tie financially. While we did enjoy this kit a lot, the budgeter in me says to skip it if you're being picky.

The Free Spirit Play Kit for months 34, 35, 36 – Like the last play kit, self curating this comes out about the same financially. With that said, these are some of our FAVORITE toys from the 2-3 year old play kits, and the book is one of our favorites. It's a well rounded mix of items too; so I'd say get it!

Final thoughts on Lovevery's Play Kits and toys

We've had the Lovevery Play Kits and Play Gym since 2018, even before we brought our daughter home and absolutely love them overall. We think they make great gifts, that support baby's development and our kids much prefer them to plastic toys.

Everything is really aesthetically pleasing, easy to clean and organize, and engaging for our kids.

We also loved the fact they save us time on researching/finding toys for her, keep clutter to a minimum (we tell people, not to get us toys, just their favorite children's books), and ultimately save money compared to buying the montessori toys separately AND just the impulse shopping that can happen when shopping for toys in general.

If you've been on the fence and keep wondering if Lovevery Play Kits are worth it, I'm happy to say they are! AND they just keep getting better as they've released their 3-4 year old play kits!

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