There’s a version of our dining room table on a summer night where everyone’s still there an hour after dinner because somebody started a round of ITO and it fell apart, in the best way. That’s the bar for this section. These are the Amazon Prime Day toys and games we actually play — the dice game that travels, the putty that buys me ten quiet minutes in a church pew, the drum Greta asked for and then actually learned. Toys earn their place here by getting picked up again, not by staying new. A lot of them are on sale for Prime Day, so it’s a good week to restock the game shelf.
Tenzi Dice: Everybody rolls at once, fast as you can, until someone gets all ten matching and yells the name — a round takes about a minute. It’s been in our family rotation for ages (the rest of our games are here).
LED Lights: The ones Greta asked for last year! We ran them under her bed, and now she sets the whole room to whatever color she’s into that week.
Magnetic Building Blocks: The toy that actually earns hours of entertainment. The girls used to build, knock it down, and build again, and it held up to every bit of it.
Vintage Record Player: From our kids’ gift guide! The rare gift an older kid keeps out and actually uses, instead of the one shelved by February.
Drone Toy: The newest thing everyone’s fighting over at our house!
LCR Wild: Somehow the most cutthroat fifteen minutes you’ll have with a crowd — it’s what we reach for when the table gets full. All the family games we own are here.
ITO Game: Our brother-in-law got us into this game, and we’ve brought it everywhere since. Each player gets a secret number from 1 to 100 and has to line up in order using nothing but clues. Two to ten players.
Chess: We got a board earlier this year, and the girls are already signing up for chess club (not an exaggeration!).
Steel Drum Greta got this for her birthday last year and has had so much fun learning to drum on it. It’s great for beginners!
Puzzle Mat: One of my favorite gifts to give! It spins so you can reach every side, and the puzzle stays put when the table gets borrowed for dinner.
Razor Kick Scooter: So many requests for the girls’ scooters for good reason. It’s the classic aluminum one that folds flat and takes a beating, which is the entire job of a scooter.
Cleaning Play Set: Made for the babies and toddlers who want to do everything they see you doing. Now they’ve got their own broom to follow you around with.
Magic Thinking Putty: I keep one in my purse for the girls during church. It doesn’t dry out, comes in a ton of colors, and reliably buys me ten quiet minutes.
Gratitude Journal for Kids: I got this for Polly’s birthday, and she does the prompts every single day — the rare gift that turns into a habit instead of clutter.
LED Hat: Change the message and the colors right from an app — exactly the kind of slightly ridiculous thing a tween will call the best gift they’ve ever gotten.
Kids Velvet Nonslip Hangers: What I use for Polly’s clothes — little-kid stuff slides right off a regular hanger, and the velvet is the only thing that holds those tiny shoulders.
Kids Digital Watch The cutest starter watch for kids. Comes in a ton of colors.
Crazy Kart These were our girls’ Christmas presents a few years ago and they still love zooming around the neighborhood in them.
Air Dry Modeling Clay: I buy this on repeat! It dries on its own with no oven, so I’m always restocking.
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