Educational Toys on a Budget
I don’t know about you, but when I go shopping lately, I can’t help but notice all the awesome toys available that have previously only been accessible to professionals & services. Kmart in particular has a fantastic range at the moment, and a few great pieces can also be found at Big W and Target.
To help you expand your toy collection and support your child’s development at home, we’ve compiled a list of 40 toys organised by developmental area, with links to purchase. Please note that Foundations Family Day Care is not affiliated with any of the sites linked below - we just want to share the love of play! For Educators & services, don’t forget that any toys you purchase for work are also a tax deduction. It’s a great time to stock up!
Gross Motor (Large Muscle Movement)
Wooden Balance Board - $25, Kmart - This clever piece of timber can be used for climbing over, tunnelling under, balancing on, rocking in, and so much more! Perfect for building a child’s balance and coordination, and offering large vestibular movement to those who find this sensory input helpful.
11 Piece Soft Play Tower Set - $119, Kmart - Kmart has an AWESOME range of soft play pieces at the moment. You can purchase several individual pieces at $20-$40 each, but I like the value of this set, working out to roughly $10 per piece. Similar to the large foam structures used in children’s gymnastics, these blocks will provide your little ones with hours of creativity, lifting, stacking, crawling, and climbing practice.
Wooden Climbing Frame - $35, Kmart - Known as a Pikler triangle in educational circles, this piece of equipment has traditionally been prohibitively expensive. Similar to the soft play blocks above, there are also several add-ons you can get for this climbing frame, including horizontal ladders, slides, and tunnels, to enrich your children’s play and challenge their skills.
Balance Bike - $45, Kmart - Balance bikes are very nifty precursors to pedalled bikes, as they save your child’s shins while making them less likely to fall over. Your child gets a feel for the balance needed to ride a bike while being able to keep their feet very close to the ground. Please note that Foundations Family Day Care policy requires all children to wear a correctly fitted helmet when using any ride-on equipment.
Balance Buckets - $16, Kmart - These can be used to create stepping stones in an obstacle course, set up upside-down like tyres for a boot camp-esque agility experience, and any other of a number of ways that your kids might come up with! They are connected together and nest inside each other for easy storage.
Fine Motor (Small Muscle Movement)
Wooden Threading Beads in Tray - $6, Kmart - One of the most traditional fine-motor activities there is, threading promotes a child’s pincer & palmar grasp and hand eye coordination, while this set also encourages colour & shape recognition, sorting, and patterning.
Wooden Post Box - $16, Kmart - Posting is another very traditional fine motor activity, and Kmart has made it extra fun with this sweet wooden post box. Children can enjoy posting letters and postcards, and opening the door to see what mail has arrived! Can also be used in conjunction with the stationery set below (see Language and Literacy).
10 Piece Wooden Balance Tree - $13, Kmart - Supporting children’s problem-solving and reasoning skills in addition to their fine motor development, this balancing tree encourages children to stack, nest, balance, and sort, while creating adorable animal scenes.
20 Piece Magnetic Animals Set - $6, Kmart - Fridge magnets are an excellent way for little ones to practice controlling the various muscles in their hands, and these are no exception. Choose from dinosaurs, sea creatures, or farm animals, and pair them with your fridge or dishwasher, or a baking tray, for hours of imaginative fun.
Wooden Fishing Set - $16, Kmart - This fishing game will encourage hand and wrist muscle development, as well as hand-eye coordination, turn-taking, and relationship-building.
Social and Emotional
Kindred Folk Best Friends Romeo & Kiah - $29, Kmart - Dolls are a wonderful way to support children’s social and emotional development, including helping them work through relational challenges they may be facing and building their empathy. Kmart has a wide range of dolls at the moment of various skin tones that come in pairs, allowing your child to have a pair of dolls at a reasonable cost to love and play with.
Baby Charlie or Baby Amelia with Down’s Syndrome - $17, Kmart - As well as stocking dolls of a wide range of ethnicities, Kmart has also done a wonderful job of moving into the disability representation space. Some of their Barbie-style dolls come with wheelchairs and various other mobility aids, and they also carry Baby Charlie and Baby Amelia, both of whom have Down’s Syndrome. Whether this allows your child to finally have a doll that looks like them, or adds diversity to your existing dolly collection, playing with babies of a wide range of appearances teaches children to celebrate people’s uniqueness from an early age, and promotes inclusive attitudes as they grow.
Snakes & Ladders Magnetic Pocket Game - $3, Kmart - Who doesn’t love a fun game? This pocket edition of Snakes and Ladders will help you support turn taking, understanding of rules, and strengthening relationship skills on the go, while the magnetic element helps to remove some of the frustration that comes from accidentally bumping pieces off their spot.
Slide & Learn Flash Cards: Feelings - $6, Kmart - These funny monsters can help you support children’s emotional literacy in an engaging and lighthearted way. They can be used as conversation starters, independent exploration tools, or as communication aids as children can choose which monster they most relate to in a given moment.
Conversation Starters Question & Picture Cards - $6, Kmart - Continuing the theme of promoting emotional literacy, these conversation starters have some excellent discussion prompts for children of all ages. Learning to identify and talk about our thoughts and feelings is an essential part of growing into a healthy, functional adult, and starting early makes all the difference. Adults may also find that these cards support their own emotional literacy as they talk and share with their children!
Cognitive (Maths, Science, Logic)
25 Piece Wooden Light & Colour Block Set - $32, Kmart - These beautiful blocks expand on children’s love of building by incorporating opportunities to explore light, colour, and how the two interact. They provide an excellent resource for introducing colour mixing, as well.
Wooden Stack & Count Learning Set - $13, Kmart - This compact yet extensive toy introduces early numeracy skills such as number recognition, counting, one-to-one correspondence, sorting, and patterning. The combination of bright colours and natural materials make it an appealing addition to your puzzle shelf.
Discovery Planetarium Projector - $29, Target - When I saw this at Target, I wanted one for myself! Discovery has made an amazing dual-ended projector which allows children to have their very own planetarium at home or on the go. One side of the projector is a constellation light, projecting stars onto the ceiling, while the other side allows you to insert various cartridges that contain images of moons, planets, and galaxies. A perfect choice for budding astronauts!
125 Piece Magnetic Pipeline Tiles Set - $49, Kmart - If your children enjoy marble runs and magnatiles, this fun play set combines both! Children can create ball runs in an endless variety of structures and designs, allowing them to explore early physics and engineering concepts.
Duplo My First Number Train - $29, Big W - It wouldn’t be a resource list without a bit of Lego, would it? Everyone’s favourite brick company has produced this beautiful number train set, supporting number recognition & order, as well as colour identification and sequencing, all while enjoying the fun that Duplo always brings.
Language and Literacy
101 Piece Magnetic Letters & Numbers - $12, Big W - A children’s classic, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add some magnetic letters & numbers to this list. Your child will love playing with these bright magnets, identifying the letters in their name, and leaving you messages to find.
Letter Writing Stationery Case - $9, Kmart - Even before they can form letters and words, children get a lot of delight from writing letters to their loved ones. This sweet stationery set provides plenty of opportunities for your child to express themselves on paper, seal their work in an envelope, and put it in the post to someone special. Who knows - they may even receive some special mail of their own in return!
Wooden Alphabet Cards Puzzle Set - $13, Kmart - As children begin to associate printed letters with sounds, these puzzle tiles will help them develop their understanding of text and the written word by associating each letter with a familiar picture. And even before they can identify letters, very young children will fill their mastery cup by completing the simple, individual 2-piece puzzles.
Create-A-Story Writing & Drawing Pad - $8, Big W - This clever pad provides space for both writing and illustration - perfect for the little storyteller in your life. Children can make their own marks in the writing space, or dictate to an adult or older child, and illustrate their story in the large upper panel. Time for their imagination to run wild!
Magnetic Alphabet Play Scene - $10, Target - For children who enjoy matching and one-to-one correspondence type games, this magnetic alphabet set will sharpen their eye for patterns while building letter and word recognition skills. An excellent choice for early readers and lower primary students.
Imagination and Role Play
Wooden Work from Home Set - $14, Kmart - So many children have seen the adults around them transition to the work-from-home life over the last few years, thanks to COVID. Kmart knows that little ones learn by copying their grown-ups, and have come up with this adorable work-from-home play set! This would be a wonderful addition to your home corner if you have children who see their grown ups working from home frequently.
Wooden Play Kitchen - $39, Target - At $39, this play kitchen is a steal! It’s ordinarily $59, but at the time of publishing, Target have this beautiful piece of children’s furniture on special. If you have a little foodie and have been looking for a kitchen of their very own, this might just be the perfect piece for you!
8 Piece Wooden Cleaning Playset - $16, Kmart - We all know how much little ones love to help. This cleaning play set includes a functional dustpan and brush at just the right size, allowing children to partner with you in tidying up their messes and spills, as well as other non-functional cleaning items that are safe for them to play with while you use the real thing.
9 Piece Wooden Babycino Playset - $14, Kmart - When I saw this set of pretend babycinos, I immediately thought of our Melbourne children in particular, though I’m sure all children love the experience of getting their own ‘coffee’ at the coffee shop. For children who are growing up in a cafe-culture world, this fun dramatic play set is impossible to pass up!
Nappy Bag & Accessories Kit - $12, Kmart - Another treat for the child who wants to be just like you - now they can have their own nappy bag, complete with accessories. Both you and your mini can leave the house knowing you have everything you need to take care of your babies.
Art and Creativity
3-in-1 Wooden Art Easel with Paper - $32, Kmart - Another bargain piece of children’s furniture. This easel has a chalkboard side, a whiteboard side, and a roll of paper mounted on top, making it a perfect play space for young artists. The tray underneath the two drawing surfaces is ideal for holding paint, aprons, and drawing materials.
Non-Spill Paint Pot - $2.25, Kmart - If you haven’t come across these before and you have paint-obsessed kiddos, you are in for a real treat. These non-spill pots are sold individually and can be rinsed out for reuse over and over again. The inverted cone lid prevents major drips and the worst spills, while the sealable top keeps paint fresh for longer, preventing waste, and protects your floors from floods of acrylic.
Air Dry Clay (500g) - $3, Kmart - Historically, air dry clay has been a very expensive medium. Not anymore! At Kmart, $3 will get you half a kilo of clay, making it possibly one of the most economical modelling mediums besides play dough. Children can create sculptures an allow them to dry without the need for the added risk of heat, and once dry, their creations can be painted or decorated however they please.
18 Pack Charcoal Sticks - $5, Kmart - Another traditionally expensive material, Kmart now also stocks charcoal. You can find this and the air dry clay (above) in the adult craft section rather than with the children’s craft materials. It’s still just as messy as ever, but at $5, why not add it to your children’s art setup and let them experiment?
Craze Sensation Bucket (Sand, Fluff, or Foam) - $10, Big W - Slime is all the rage at the moment! These buckets from Big W give children the opportunity to squish, stretch and smoosh kinetic sand, fluffy slime, or gooey foam. They all come with extra decorations in the lid that children can mix through. A real treat for sensory seekers!
Music, Movement, and Dance
Parachute - $16, Kmart - Ah, parachute games. I’m sure many of us have very fond memories of playing with parachutes as children. Kmart’s parachute comes with handles attached around the perimeter, as well as with a number of plastic balls for rolling and tossing games. A great addition to your music props!
Dance Ribbon Wands - $6, Kmart - These beautiful ribbon wands come in a set of two, making them ultra affordable. Children will love swirling and twirling to music with these wands, and drawing ribbon pictures in the air. You may want to pick up a few sets of these as they are sure to be popular!
FAO Schwarz Giant Piano Dance Mat - $39, Target - This is a bit more of a novelty toy, but I couldn’t resist the fun of adding it to this list for you. This giant piano allows children to get their wiggles out while making music! And you might be able to sneak a turn now and then so you can recreate that iconic Tom Hanks scene.
Musical Gift Set - $20, Kmart - If you’ve been looking for a set of instruments to start your child off, this gift set from Kmart might be for you. It includes a xylophone, tambourine, castanet, maraca, and recorder, all made from FSC timber. They will support you to foster a lifelong love of music with your child as you explore the differences each individual instrument makes.
Paper Crane Wireless Speaker - $19, Target - This portable speaker from Target is perfect for outdoor music groups, picnics, and other outings where you might like music to be available. The speaker has a 4 hour battery life when fully charged, and the controls on the base give you the option of allowing children to control the music. This could add a whole new level of fun to your Family Day Care practice and other outings with your children!
I hope this list has inspired you and that you’ve been able to discover some new treasures! I have been so impressed with the quality of play materials coming out of some of our major affordable retailers lately, and hope you will be, too. Feel free to bookmark this list for future reference!
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, Foundations Family Day Care is not affiliated with any of the retailers mentioned in this article. All prices are correct at time of publication, however we cannot guarantee the accuracy of pricing or availability of products if you are reading this at a later date.