Review: The Realist Play Kit By Lovevery.

At the start of summer, a new Lovevery Play Kit arrived! This was the third box we tried and it’s called the Realist. You can read my reviews of the Thinker Play Kit and the Babbler Play Kit.

Lovevery is a toy company that sells products (subscription kits, and baby and kid items) that are scientifically designed, aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and heavily rely on Montessori principles. The materials are thoughtfully recommended for your child (and automatically shipped if you have a subscription) based on their birthday. 

Each kit is around $120. There are ways to get coupons but their kits rarely go on sale. If you subscribe you have the opportunity to “skip kits” that you don’t want (for example, I skipped the Pioneer Kit because we already had some of the items it included.) You can cancel anytime, as well. Play Kits like these are great if you rotate toys, or if you want to take away the guess work in “what should my child be playing with right now?” I purchased this kit, and these honest opinions are my own. The links in this post are affiliate links at no cost to you, however if you make a purchase I may earn a small commission.

Let’s take a look at the Realist: This kit is for 19-21 month olds.

Quilted Critter Pockets:

This is a fun matching game! The materials are organic; very soft and smooth and I like that the cord is elastic so it has some stretch to it. I hung ours on a 3M hook and it’s pretty popular with all three kids. The stitching seems strong and I don’t foresee any rips or unraveling. I keep the animals in a little basket on the floor while not in use. We’re four months in and this still gets used every day.

Geo Shapes Puzzle:

This puzzle is so beautiful! However, it was too hard for Eva and even now at 22 months, it’s too difficult. So she’s never successfully completed it. She loves puzzles too and typically has an easy time with them. It could just be a fluke! I just recently put it away and plan to take it out again in a few months.

Lockbox:

This is another material that all my kids love! Eva especially loves to put things inside the lockbox and walk around with it. The latches are so appealing to her and this is a much better size than our Melissa and Doug lockbox barn (which is huge and can’t be easily transported around the house.)

Really Real Flashlight:

This was probably the most loved item out of the kit! The kids are obsessed with this flashlight! Eva uses it all around the house, inside the forts they build, in her room — everywhere. The button is easy to turn on and off. It’s very sturdy, too. I was a little worried because it’s plastic but it’s holding up very well (after being dropped and tossed around for the last four months.) Also, it came with batteries!

Count and Slide Ring Chute:

This was the item that sold ME on this kit and… it just didn’t land! I’m so sad about it. I hope to bring it back out in a few months but while it was out, it just didn’t get much play. The rings being the exact same as the rings in the Flexible Wood Stacker from a previous kit really threw off Eva. She kept putting all these rings with the Stacker (that’s still out because it’s such a favorite.) So whenever anyone would go to this material, the rings were missing! We’ll give it another soon shot soon enough!

Grooved Pitcher and Glass:

These are great! They are so multi-use and functional and perfect for toddlers who just LOVE to pour. We’ve used them for shelf work, as a drinking glass, for pouring milk into cereal, for plant watering — we love them!

I would honestly buy an entire kit just of Lovevery books. They are that good. They are simple, with real photographs, have a plot, a small conflict and a nice resolution. They’re great! In this specific one, the child visits the doctor and ends up needing a shot. Eva loves the story and the page where the girl cries over the shot, Eva becomes visibly upset too! But then on the next page, she’s smiling so Eva smiles, too.

The Lovevery products are great quality; sturdy and beautiful. They come packaged really nicely but are not incredibly sustainable if you consider that before you purchase from a company. Every item comes in a separate smaller box within the larger box, or wrapped in plastic, or lined with paper separators. Of course, this is to ensure safe delivery but I hope one day they minimize the amount of waste. 

Even with the few misses, I’m so happy with our Play Kits and find that they are great for the money spent. I plan to branch out and into their 3 year old Play Kits with Lola in mind. I’ll let you know how we like them.

Check out Lovevery Play Kits here!