Made for Play
Explore child development through play, find inspiration for your next DIY project, and discover tips for selecting the perfect toys for your little ones.
Latest Articles
Introducing KidKraft's Parent Series
Parenting isn’t easy, but we believe it can and should be fun… at least most of the time. That’s why our mission has always been to make toys that promote imaginative and active play – the kind that’s great for your kiddos’ brains and bodies and lets you catch a break. It’s also why we’re launching our new KidKraft Parent Series!Our Parent Series has one goal in mind: make your parenthood easier and more fun! (Okay, so two goals?) We’ll bring you our best tips on everything from avoiding tantrums to packing a toddler’s diaper bag to introducing a new baby to your toddler. Even better? Our Parent Series keeps a heavy focus on the fun with play ideas and product roundups for every situation. Rainy days? Got you covered. Pretend play as a family? We’ll help you make it happen! After over 50 years in the biz of making child-led, child-focused toys, we know a thing or two about helping toddlers, preschoolers, and parents have fun together! And we can’t wait to share it all! So how can you get in on all the good stuff? Just check in on our blog for all of our latest Parent Series posts, and follow us on social media where we’ll link to our favorites! See you soon!
How To Combine Kids Outdoor Toys with Backyard Decor
Having kids doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to your dream backyard! Keep your design on point and make your yard fun for the kids with these design tips for making outdoor toys work with your backyard decor! Start with Toys You Like! If possible, try to start with outdoor toys that have an aesthetic you can work with. Natural materials like wood are always a classic, and they’re easily customizable with paint jobs and accessories.Our wooden playsets and playhouses are a favorite with DIY-designer parents for just this reason! Plus, we have plenty of options for modern designs that look sleek and stylish even without customization. And no, you shouldn’t feel guilty for choosing a design you like because we promise your kids will love them just as much! Use Stylish Storage for Smaller Toys Smaller outdoor toys – like bubbles, balls, chalk, push mowers, etc. – can clutter up your back porch. But storing them away in a garage or shed probably means they never actually get used. Hidden storage like outdoor storage ottomans are the perfect way to keep clutter at bay and give your kids easy access to their toys. For midsize toys like push mowers and riding toys, try a stylish deck box! Tie-ins for the Win! Interior decorators are masters at tying together a room or an entire house to give it a cohesive look. It’s all about those extra little touches that unite a design without being too matchy-matchy. For example, a print that’s on a curtain in one room may appear in a slightly altered version on a throw pillow in another.You can apply the same principle to your outdoor decor and large outdoor kids’ toys to make your backyard look professionally designed! We know plenty of parents love to add their own touch to KidKraft playsets and playhouses with a custom paint job. If you’re using an accent color on the door or trim, try matching it to a color that’s already featured in your outdoor decor.If you’re adding curtains to your little one’s playhouse, try to incorporate those colors or prints in your furniture’s upholstery or throw pillows.Love the potted flowers on your back porch? Add the same flowers to your playhouse’s planter boxes! Don’t be afraid to get creative! The more subtle tie-ins you have between your decor and outdoor toys, the more the toys will look like an intentional part of your backyard design! Oil-Based Paints Even the paint on your kids’ toys is something to consider! We only used oil-based, non-toxic paints, and of course, our paints are completely free of lead and other hazardous materials. Landscape Around Large Toys If you’re worried about large toys interrupting the flow of your yard’s design, try working with them rather than “hiding” them. Simple touches like planting a few flowers around your child’s playhouse or swing set can make them look much more intentional and cohesive with the rest of your yard. We also love adding a stone path that leads to the toy! Of course, safety is still priority #1, so we aren’t suggesting you put shrubs, breakable pots, or stones too close to a swing set (ouch!). Need help picking the perfect outdoorsy toys for your yard? Our guides can help!Check out our Tips for Choosing a Backyard Playset, Best Outdoor Toys for Small Yards, and Buying Guide for Kids Outdoor Toys!
Modern Playhouse Decor Ideas
We firmly believe that a kid’s playhouse does not have to be an eyesore. Whether the playhouse is in your backyard or in your playroom, you should love looking at it as much as your kids love playing in it! To help you achieve that Insta-worthy modern playhouse we’ve gathered some of our favorite playhouse design ideas from parents like you! Plants & Wreaths Adding greenery is one of the simplest and most common interior design tips – and it works wonders for a playhouse too! Try arranging a few potted plants around the door or on the windowsill, hanging a wreath on the door, or adding flowers to the planter boxes beneath the windows. Whether they’re real or artificial, the plants will give the playhouse a bright, inviting vibe. For inspiration, see this greenery glow-up of our Forestview II Playhouse from @allisonmannella. Go Bold & Bright There’s no doubt that white and pastels are having a moment in modern design, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go for bright, bold colors with your playset. This blue and lime green paint job on our Modern Outdoor Playhouse still looks exceptionally modern thanks to the black trim and simple accessories like the mailbox, address sign, and door handle. Plus, what kid doesn’t love bright colors? Or Bright & White If bright, bold colors don’t exactly fit your decor tastes, opt for bright and white instead. A white paint job provides a clean, crisp background for your decor ideas, and it photographs beautifully! You can paint most wooden playhouses, or just opt for our Modern Outdoor Playhouse in white if you’d rather skip the painting altogether! Make the Door Your Own We get it – a full-out paint job is not everyone’s thing. But you can still make your playhouse look like a DIY masterpiece by adding a quick coat of paint to the door. The door itself is so small, we promise painting it will feel like a breeze. You can customize it even more by installing a new door handle, a knocker, or address numbers. We love this rosy pink door with a sleek gold handle on our Modern Outdoor Playhouse! Start with a Playhouse You Love Giving your little one’s playset a modern, trendy vibe is a lot easier if you start off with a playset that already has a modern design in mind. That means skipping loud plastic and opting for more natural materials that can be painted and customized. KidKraft’s outdoor wooden playsets are perfect both for ambitious DIYers and those who’d rather keep their decorating simple and quick. By starting with the sleek, clean lines and natural wood finishes of KidKraft playhouse, you already have a trendy, modern base for your decor ideas. Some of our top choices for parents looking for modern decor are the Modern Outdoor Playhouse (no surprise there!), the Scenic View Playhouse, and the new Hobby Workshop Wooden Playhouse. Be sure to browse all of our playhouses before you decide, and keep an eye on our Instagram for even more modern decor ideas from parents like you!
How Does Play Support Cognitive Development?
Cognitive Development in Children Can we just talk about how amazing toddlers’ brains are? In the span of a few years, they go from first words to telling full stories. From stacking a couple of blocks to constructing entire block buildings. And from chewing on stuffed animals to using them in complex pretend play! Most amazing of all, most of that development happens naturally when kids are raised in supportive, loving environments with plenty of opportunities to play.So don’t stress about making flashcards or drilling numbers at this age. The most powerful tool you have for your child’s cognitive development is play! Here’s how different types of cognitive play support your child’s development. Grows Their Problem-solving Skills Part of a child’s cognitive development is their ability to solve problems. For a toddler, that can be as simple as finally learning how to zip their own jacket. But those same skills will serve them later with more complex problems from schoolwork, social situations, and extra-curricular activities. In fact, toddlers are naturally drawn to problem-solving activities during play. These are a few brain-boosting favorites: Puzzles Stacking blocks Playing hide-and-seek with objects Memory games Dressing and undressing themselves or toys When toddlers engage in activities like this, they’re pushing their brains to develop creativity, analytical thinking, and persistence they’ll need later in life. For more ideas, see our 7 Problem-Solving Activities for Toddlers! Boosts Their Language While language is often considered its own area of development, there's plenty of crossover between a child’s cognitive development and their language development. Playing with your child is one of the most powerful ways you can help grow their language skills. Whether you’re playing make-believe, building a block tower, reading, or doing a puzzle, nearly any type of play is naturally filled with opportunities to grow your child’s vocabulary and increase their understanding of sentence structure and grammar. So play together frequently and don’t hold back when it comes to “big” words. In the process, you’ll also boost their social skills and sense of self-worth! Starts Symbolic & Logical Thinking Okay so that “logic” part may not truly come into play for a while. At least according to Piaget’s Stages of Development, kids don’t begin to think logically until around age 7 in the “Concrete Operational Stage.” However, the foundation for logical thinking is laid in the “Preoperational Stage,” around ages 2-6. This is when kids begin to use symbolic thinking such as using one object to represent another (i.e. pretending a block is a toy car). In fact, this is actually considered an important developmental milestone! And if you think that sounds a lot like pretend play… you’re right! By providing frequent opportunities for child-led pretend play, you’re actually helping your child develop the symbolic thinking that will help them become logical thinkers later on. Increases Their Attention Span If you’ve ever tried to force a toddler to focus on a task they don’t want to do… well, you know how pointless that is. That’s why play is far better at building your child’s attention span! When they find a challenge they want to tackle, such as building train tracks or solving a puzzle, their attention spans can be surprisingly long! So follow your child’s lead here. Whether they’re playing with dolls or building with blocks, if they are engaged and focused, try not to interrupt them and remove distractions like TV noise. (One caveat: many kids will play endlessly with screens, but since these activities are often hyper-stimulating, they aren’t building their attention spans in the same way. Minimal to moderate screen time is still the way to go!) Real-world Role Playing Remember that, for toddlers, social and emotional learning is perhaps even more important than learning letters and numbers. Pretend play is one of the main ways your toddler makes sense of the world and their place in it, so encourage it any chance you get… especially when they’re interested in role playing real-life scenarios. Fantasy-based pretend play is great too, but real-world roleplaying is especially helpful for learning social norms, practicing their social skills, and growing their vocabulary. Follow their interests and pretend with them as much as possible. You can also encourage their pretend play by providing toys like dress-up clothes, play kitchens, doctors kits, and other real-life props. For even more immersive pretend play, the Let’s Pretend Pop Ups let you set up an entire restaurant, vet’s office, or grocery store in the playroom in minutes. For more educational play ideas, check out our favorite activities to build your child’s communication skills or explore our entire collection of cognitive play toys perfect for cognitive development.
Birthday Activities for Kids
Our Favorite Birthday Activities for Kids We think birthday parties should be fun for everyone – parents included! That’s why we love birthday party activities that are as fun as they are easy. These 8 birthday activities for kids will win you some “cool parent” brownie points with minimal prep and stress, so you can enjoy the party too, Bubble Wrap “Firewalk” This activity is easy, cheap, and a kid favorite! All you need is a large roll of bubble wrap! Roll it out in the yard or down the hall if you’re having an indoor party. Then, the kids get to race across it one at a time. For toddler birthday parties, this might be enough entertainment on its own! For slightly older kids, introduce a few rules to make it more fun. Create teams for and play rounds with different rules like trying to pop the least amount of bubbles one round and the most the next. Use your ears to judge! Nerf Wars Small Nerf blasters can double as a party favor and a birthday activity in one! As long as you’re fine with Nerf darts flying around during the party, the kids are sure to have a blast, and the activity is pretty hands-off for you! If your child is a Nerf fanatic, an outdoor Nerf battle fort might be the perfect birthday gift! Balloon Stompers Each child gets a non-helium balloon tied to their ankle on a long string. Then the fun begins as they chase each other around, trying to stomp and pop on each other’s balloons. The last balloon standing wins! Of course, this game is definitely made for older kiddos since popping a toddler’s balloon is just a recipe for a meltdown. For a more toddler-friendly version, just try a game of “keep up the balloon” instead. DIY Photo Booth Photo booths are all-the-rage these days, and kids love to get in on the fun! Set up a simple backdrop using paper streamers or party decorations and provide a few fun props. Don’t worry about having a camera set up – most parents will be glad to use their phones for the photo opp when it’s their child’s turn! Limbo Never discount the classics! Turn on the music, grab a broom or other stick, and let the kids see how low they can go. Older kids can handle the official limbo rules, while toddlers will have a blast just crawling under the limbo pole! Sidewalk Chalk/ Paint If you’re planning an outdoor party and have some space on your patio, sidewalk art makes for great low-key entertainment. Chalk is fun, but they’ll be even more enticed to join in by the novelty of homemade sidewalk paint! Bubbles Yep… just bubbles! At least for toddlers, popping bubbles provides pretty much endless entertainment, so a bubble machine might be a worthwhile investment. Even older kids enjoy blowing bubbles, so leave out enough bubbles and wands for each guest, and they’re sure to get used! Activity Stations We love the idea of setting up different activity stations that the kids are free to explore on their own. This way, the kids are having fun, and the adults aren’t as busy directing the party. Some of the ideas above – like photo booths, bubbles, and sidewalk painting, work great as activity stations. Other ideas include a water play area, a craft table, puzzles, and any toys that multiple kids can play with at once. Any large outdoor toys are going to be kid magnets, so if you have a swing set, sandbox, or playhouse, you’ve already got a few built-in stations!Planning a party in the warmer months? Check out our Summer Birthday Ideas for even more birthday inspo!
Screen Free Learning Activities for Toddlers
Screen time has its place, but don’t buy into the idea that your toddler needs apps or screens to learn. Toddlers learn best from hands-on experiences, so next time you want to give those little brains a boost, skip the screens and try one of these five screen-free activities for toddlers! Sorting Sorting activities are great for helping your toddlers categorize and create order, helping build their attention and problem-solving skills. There are endless ways to introduce sorting activities to your toddler, so as they begin to master one type of activity, you can move on to something more challenging.If your toddler knows a few colors, color sorting is a great way to start. One classic activity is to paint the different compartments in an egg carton with varying colors and provide craft pom poms for them to sort into the correctly-colored compartments. Of course, you can make it even easier by drawing circles with different colored crayons and sorting small household items into the circles by color. If your toddler is a bit older, try out more advanced categories. For example, they can sort their stuffed animals and figurines into zoo animals, farm animals, and pets – or even African animals, ocean animals, etc. Matching Like sorting, matching is a great cognitive-boosting activity that has endless variations. A super easy way to get started? Gather some socks in a basket and let them find the matches! When you first get started, you can make it easy by choosing sock pairs that are clearly different sizes and colors. As they get more skilled, increase the challenge by only sock pairs that look fairly similar.When they’re ready, try more advanced matching activities like matching pictures of different natural settings to the animal who lives there. You can always find free or low-cost printables for these types of activities! Constructive Play Constructive play is just a fancy term for “building things,” and it’s one of the best ways to build your toddler’s pre-math skills! You can provide different ways to explore constructive play with toys like blocks, building bricks, magnetic tiles, train sets, and even play dough. As your toddler gets older, they’ll start to attempt more complex builds, so be sure to build with them often to give them ideas and direction. Tactile Letters When you incorporate multiple senses and make it fun, you can start promoting letter recognition from a young age. A few of our favorites include: Letters in the sand. Put some play sand or kinetic sand in a tray and provide printed letters for your child to practice copying with their finger in the sand. While they’re still learning their letters, you may only want to introduce one or two letters at a time. Ice cube letters. Purchase an alphabet ice tray for a fun sensory and letter-recognition activity in one. Take all your letter ice cubes outside in a bin, and let your child paint them on a hot day. Talk about each letter as they pick them up! Shaving cream letters. Cover the craft table in shaving cream, and let them start practicing their letters in it! It’s messy but oh-so-fun. Real-world Role Playing Remember that, for toddlers, social and emotional learning is perhaps even more important than learning letters and numbers. Pretend play is one of the main ways your toddler makes sense of the world and their place in it, so encourage it any chance you get… especially when they’re interested in role playing real-life scenarios. Fantasy-based pretend play is great too, but real-world roleplaying is especially helpful for learning social norms, practicing their social skills, and growing their vocabulary. Follow their interests and pretend with them as much as possible. You can also encourage their pretend play by providing toys like dress-up clothes, play kitchens, doctors kits, and other real-life props. For even more immersive pretend play, the Let’s Pretend Pop Ups let you set up an entire restaurant, vet’s office, or grocery store in the playroom in minutes. For more educational play ideas, check out our favorite activities to build your child’s communication skills!
Unleash Their Inner Fun: Top Toys Older Kids Will Love
Toys for 7 Year Olds Is it just us or does buying toys for older kids seem way harder than shopping for toddler and preschoolers? They still love pretending, playing outside, and other “kid” things…but also want to be seen as older and more mature. But don’t resort to screen-based gifts just yet! Kids in this range still benefit from toys that promote pretend play, creativity, and physical activity. These are a few of our fav toys for older kids thanks to their perfect blend of little-kid-fun and big-kid-cool. Best Toys for 7 + Year Olds Best Outdoor Toy: Cozy Escape Playhouse Older kids still love having their own “secret” hideaways, but they may be getting a little too tall for smaller playhouses. The Cozy Escape Playhouse is the perfect solution. It’s big enough for a seven year old plus a few friends with room to grow for the next couple of years. The modern design gives it a cool vibe that’s perfect if your child feels a little too old for a cutesy, “kiddish” theme. Best Arts & Crafts Toy: Art Table with Drying Rack & Storage Older kids tend to be more focused and ambitious with their art projects, so they’ll appreciate a dedicated space that lets them create and feel like a real artist. This Kids Art Table with Drying Rack & Storage gives them room to get creative with more advanced (i.e. messy!) materials…without getting that mess all over your kitchen table. They’ll have room to store paint and other art supplies, a roll of paper to create masterpiece after masterpiece, and a built-in drying rack. It’s also a great place to tackle tricky homework problems! Best Building Toy: Clever Creator Activity Table Older kids love challenging Lego sets, and the Clever Creator Activity Table gives them the perfect place to build, protect, display, and store their creations. They can stand the table up to work sitting or kneeling or collapse the legs to work laying on their stomachs. Either way, their creations will be sturdy and secure on the building surface. And if they want a change of scenery, they can easily transport it from room to room. Best Backyard Toy for Older Kids: All-in-One Sports Adventure Want to turn your backyard into an all-out sports arena? Well, maybe it’s not high on your list of to-dos, but we bet your older kid would be all for it! Fortunately, you don’t have to take up a ton of space to help your child play and practice multiple sports from their own backyard. The All-in-One Sports Adventure set combines the kid-favorite features of a traditional playset (like slides, climbing ladders, and play decks) with exciting ways to practice skills for soccer, basketball, football, golf, and baseball. It includes all the balls, nets, goals, bats, and clubs you’ll need plus a basket for storage. Set it up, and it’s official – your backyard is the “cool backyard” to all your kids’ playdate pals. Best Toy for 7+ Year Old Girls: Ultimate Slumber Party Mansion Dollhouse Older girls still love dollhouses, but they often want something a little less bright-and-sparkly and a little more “grown-up”. The Ultimate Slumber Party Mansion Dollhouse fits the bill with its trendy, chic style, and at just over 5 feet tall, it’s the perfect big dollhouse for big kids! For another style, try the So Stylish Mansion Dollhouse in Boho Naturals. The natural wood and open-frame design make it another great choice for older girls who want a dollhouse that looks modern and cool. Best Toys for 7 Year Old Boys: Nerf Scout Defense Post Your son can take his Nerf battles to the next level with the Nerf Scout Defense Post. Hiding places, practice targets, defense shields, climbing features, and built-in blaster and dart storage make it the ideal toy for boys who love to get active and competitive. The Nerf Geostrike Headquarters and Nerf Command Base Battle Fort are great options too!Still shopping around? Use our Shop by Age page for a curated selection of toys your “bid kids” will love! Need something for younger sibling too? You can check out all of our favorites for kids 3-6 years old below!Best Toys for Six Year OldsBest Toys for Five Year OldsBest Toys for Four Year OldsBest Toys for Three Year Olds
Creative Art Activities for Preschoolers
12 Creative Art Activities for Preschoolers Preschoolers are natural artists — give them a blank page and some crayons, and they’ll be occupied for quite some time (even if they’re just enthusiastically scribbling!). Beyond being fun, creative play for preschool-aged kids is a crucial part of early childhood development. Through art, little ones explore their imagination, build fine motor skills, and learn to express themselves in ways words can’t always capture. Plus, there’s something magical about watching a child light up as they mix colors or create art with objects from around the house! What Should a Preschooler Be Able to Do? At the preschool stage, kids are developing important fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and creative thinking, so their arts and crafts abilities are all about exploration rather than perfection. Most preschoolers can hold and use crayons, markers, and paintbrushes with increasing control, though their grip may still be a bit unrefined. They can tear, glue, and manipulate paper, experiment with scissors (with supervision), and enjoy hands-on sensory activities like finger painting or modeling with playdough. Keep in mind that, at this age, the focus isn’t on creating picture-perfect artwork but rather on engaging their imagination, practicing problem-solving, and having fun with different textures, colors, and materials. 12 Creative Activities for Preschoolers Stuck in an arts and crafts rut with your preschooler? Add a little excitement back to craft time with these creative art ideas for preschoolers! 1. Make Your Own Paint Making your own paint is surprisingly easy and just might be the fun your preschooler needs to get interested in their art table again! We like this simple recipe for homemade paint with flour. 2. DIY Puzzles Once your preschooler has finished a drawing or painting, extend the fun by asking them if they want to turn it into a puzzle! Let them draw lines throughout the picture and then use safety scissors to cut it into pieces. Then, they can mix it up and work on solving their brand new puzzle! 3. Rain Splatter Painting This creative painting idea doubles as a way to make the most of rainy days! Let your child drop food coloring onto a large piece of thick paper placed on a baking sheet. Take it outside when it’s raining ( a light drizzle or sprinkle works best) and let the rain mix the colors together! The result will always be unique. 4. Art with Natural Materials Your backyard just might have plenty of creative art opportunities! Let your child use garden tools and stones to make their very own “zen garden” in the sandbox. Gather flowers (and yes, weeds count!) to glue to a drawing. Find and paint pinecones. Or if you’re up for a little mess, let your child create a muddy mixture to “paint” with (outside of course!) 5. Kids Camera Let your kids explore a whole new artistic medium: photography! There are plenty of affordable cameras created just for kids (or you can let them use your phone if you’re brave). If they need some inspiration, provide a scavenger-hunt-style list of objects to photograph. 6. Copy a Famous Painting Whether it’s something as classic as Starry Night, or as funky as Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans, most kids will love the chance to recreate something from a “real” artist. Show them a few pieces, let them choose, and provide the colors and materials they’ll need to give it their best shot! (If you have a little perfectionist, remind them that it’s just for fun, and it does NOT need to look exactly like the original to be a success!) 7. Respond to a Piece of Art Instead of copying a piece of art, your child can create something in response to a book, song, or piece of visual art. Maybe they imagine the homes of their favorite characters in a book or make a painting that reminds them of a song. There are no rules! 8. Create a Mosaic You can use anything from pieces of construction paper to extra buttons and coins, to large sequins, Just hand your preschooler a glue stick (or help them with a hot glue gun if needed) and let them get to work! 9. Use Found Items If your preschooler always seems to find random objects on the ground, this project gives them an excuse to collect their little treasures! Let your kids start a “found items” box, and when they have enough, they can use the pieces to create a sculpture or glue onto a picture. For example, they can glue on buttons to create a bunch of balloons, decorate a bird sculpture with real feathers they’ve found, or just combine their pieces into fun, abstract art. 10. Sculpt with Modeling Clay If your child loved (or still loves!) play dough as a toddler, they’re sure to love the slightly more “big kid” challenge of making modeling clay sculptures. If they need some inspiration, we love these original modeling clay ideas. 11. Faux Stain Glass For this project, you’ll need a solution of dish soap, paintbrushes, and different colored cellophane. You or your child can cut the cellophane into any shapes you want to create your stained glass art. You can go for a random mosaic of shapes, or something more intricate. Then, let them paint the dish solution on the window and stick the cellophane to it. It should stick well but come peel right off when you’re ready to clean up! 12. Color Mixing Bottles Fill some used plastic water bottles with water and food coloring in the primary colors (red, yellow, blue). Then, use a funnel to let them combine colors into other empty water bottles, replace the cap, and shake them up. It’s a great way to teach them about color mixing, and they’ll love learning the different combinations they can use to create their favorite colors! FAQ What are some easy preschool crafts for make-believe play? DIY paper crowns are perfect for royal pretend play, cardboard box cars or rocket ships make for exciting adventures, and paper plate animal masks are sure to lead to storytelling fun. What are some May art activities for preschoolers? May is the perfect time for spring-inspired art activities! Preschoolers can create handprint flower bouquets for Mother’s Day, make butterfly collages with tissue paper, or paint bright suns and rainbows to celebrate the season. What are some crafts about friendship for preschoolers? Making friendship bracelets is a classic friendship-themed craft that never gets old! Try making friendship bracelets with beads or pasta. Another idea is crafting "helping hands" by tracing their handprints and then writing or drawing ways they can be a good friend.
