The Free Spirit Play Kit has some very unique toys in it, including the two-part shape puzzles and the camper, which has all these hidden compartments and options for open-ended play.
When looking at the entire library of Lovevery Play Kits (we own 15 of them), this doesn’t fall toward the top on our list of favorites, but it’s still a fun one. I’ve scoured Amazon to bring you the best Amazon alternatives to these Lovevery toys. You can scroll to the end of this article for a full price comparison along with my final thoughts.
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Wooden Counting Box
The Wooden Counting Box is excellent for practicing one-to-one correspondence. You put the card on the top of the box, and your child puts the pegs in the holes as they count.
But the best part of this toy is you can pull the lever and all the pegs fall out of the bottom. My 25-month-old son loves playing with this toy just for that part!
Besides the obvious, which is that this toy helps your child with numeracy and counting, I found another little perk. My daughter has gotten so much better at looking at a group of objects and immediately knowing how many there are without having to count each item in the group.
For example, I might put four beads on the floor and ask, “How many beads are there?” She looks at the group of beads and immediately says, “Four,” without having to count each one.
She can do this up to four currently, and I really do think this toy has helped a lot with that.
There isn’t a wooden counting box on Amazon with the lever component, but there are wooden counting peg toys.
This counting peg board from Montessori & Me is basically a recreation of the top of the Lovevery version.
Plus, you have to love that the entire thing is wooden. It’s sure to be durable and last a long time.
Land And Sky Two-Part Puzzle Board
The Land and Sky Two-Part Puzzle Board is a really challenging puzzle for this age range, in my opinion. It’s not impossible, but it’s definitely one of those toys that you introduce and work on for many months.
I thought it would be pretty simple since it’s only putting two pieces together, but when you jumble up all these pieces, it’s pretty hard to get them all back in place! I even had to stop and think for a minute when I was cleaning things up after we were done.
There is an almost identical-looking dupe on Amazon, but the lack of reviews makes me a little nervous.
It’s our only good alternative, though, and you can always return it if it’s no good. If you do end up ordering it, please leave a comment for us all at the end of this article!
Reach For The Stars Matching Cards
Matching games are always a fun activity to do with a toddler, especially in the morning when they’re more eager and attentive.
These matching cards are fun to sort, and you can also turn it into a true matching game by placing a grouping upside down and having your child flip two at a time until they uncover all the matches.
The best Amazon alternative I found is a Colors & Shapes Learning Game by Trend Enterprises.
The setup is a little bit different, but the concept is the same!
Solid Wood Stacking Boulders
The stacking boulders are fun to play with, but they don’t capture the attention of a toddler for very long. I can get maybe 5 minutes of dedicated play out of my kids with this one.
However, they’re still fun to get out, and stacking is a ton of fun for kids at this age.
There’s a great boulder stacking alternative on Amazon, though it includes way more pieces than the Lovevery version.
I personally prefer the simplicity of the Lovevery version, because it gives my child what they need while keeping clutter at a minimum.
Wooden Camper With Locking Doors and Van Go Outdoor Adventure
The wooden camper toy, along with the little peg dolls in the sleeping bags, is 100% unique to Lovevery. There is no Amazon dupe for this one, and I searched every little crack and crevice of Amazon.
The wooden camper has all of these little components, including the front area where you can insert the peg dolls, the sunroof, a back area, and a functional locking door on either side of the camper. The little tent with the sleeping bags and peg dolls is adorable, and you can really create an imaginative scene with these items. It’s perfect for this age – right around age 3, my daughter’s imagination went crazy and it seemed like she was always having toys talk to each other.
While there was no way I’d find an exact replica, I did find something in the same vein, which is the Hape Adventure Van.
It’s mostly wooden, something that was very hard to find, and it should spark the same creativity that the Lovevery camper does. It includes plastic action figures instead of wooden peg dolls, but it does include a tent and several extra pieces to help your toddler create a scene.
‘Now That I’m Three’ Board Book
This particular board book from Lovevery focuses on independence and being helpful around the house.
When thinking about this theme, I ended up finding several books about cleaning up, but the ones that featured real photography seem to be older library books! You can still order them on Amazon, but you have to get them from third-party sellers in library binding. [My favorite find was Be a Helper by Pete Jenkins.]
So, in an effort to find something that you can order directly from Amazon at a reasonable price, my top pick is Clean-Up Time by Elizabeth Verdick.
This book is a little bit simpler than the Lovevery one, but I still like the concept it drives home: a clean space is a more functional space, and you can help clean it up!
Lovevery vs. Amazon Alternatives Price Comparison
Drum roll, please… here are the price alternatives if you try to recreate this Lovevery play kit on Amazon (please note Amazon prices fluctuate):
- Wooden Counting Box alternative: $29.95
- Land and Sky Two-Part Puzzle Board alternative: $17.97
- Reach for the Stars Matching Cards alternative: $17.03
- Solid Wood Stacking Boulders alternative: $32.99
- Wooden Camper with Locking Doors and Van Go Outdoor Adventure alternative: $39.99
- ‘Now That I’m Three’ Board Book alternative: $8.99
The total cost to try to recreate the Lovevery Free Spirit Play Kit for months 34-36 is $146.92, or $26.92 more than the cost of the Lovevery kit.
I strongly prefer the Lovevery kit over the alternatives I was able to find on Amazon. The toys in this play kit are super unique – and they seem to become more unique and distinctive as the play kits go up in age. For several of these toys, I could only find ONE suitable alternative on Amazon. And in the case of the two-part puzzle, it had only 5 reviews total with a pretty subpar average rating.
I usually have a recommendation for our favorite toy of the bunch (if you want to pick and choose), but I would honestly go for the full Lovevery play kit here! My kids play with all of these toys, and I wasn’t overly impressed with any of the Amazon options.
If you twisted my arm and made me choose, I suppose I’d lean toward the shape matching game and the wooden counting pegs. But I personally chose to purchase the Lovevery kit, and the quality is unmatched.
Conclusion
Lovevery did it again – they delivered a grouping of Montessori-aligned toys for toddlers that are high-quality, sustainably sourced, and less expensive than the alternatives on Amazon.
I hope this blog series is helpful to you. It’s definitely a lot of work, but the investigative side of me loves the challenge! Happy playing!
