Toys help keep kids happy and encourage them to learn, and children often need new, stimulating toys appropriate for their growth stage. Many parents spend as much as $300 per year on toys. But there's a less expensive, more eco-friendly way: toy rentals.
How do toy rentals work?
Toy rental services allow you to pay a subscription fee to receive shipments of toys — often high-quality toys that would be expensive. Your child will get to enjoy them for a while, and the service may have an option to keep your child's favorites for longer. When you're done with the toys, you ship them back and receive a new set, while the old toys get cleaned up and sent on to a new family.
Why choose to rent?
While many items are better to buy than to rent, toys aren't on the list. Kids go through them fast, especially babies and toddlers, who are developing so quickly that they need new types of toys every few months to build their motor and cognitive skills. (KidsHealth offers an outline of the options that are most helpful at each stage.)
If you buy all these options, you'll quickly end up with a toybox full of stuff your kid has outgrown. Renting allows you to clear out the old and make room for the new with minimal inconvenience, not to mention that it's the cheapest way to introduce your child to a wide variety of new toys!
Toy rentals even save you time. You won't have to go shopping for new additions to the playroom, and since there are fewer old items cluttering the house, you'll spend less time on cleanup.
Finally, most toys have a lifespan longer than a child's interest. If you buy a toy, it's likely to be forgotten and discarded long before it wears out. Renting a toy to multiple families means they'll get the most use out of it and minimize the number of almost-new toys heading to the landfill — a win for the planet.
Where can I find toy rentals?
There are many businesses, online sharing groups, and even libraries that offer this service locally, so check in your area or consider starting one as a Facebook Group if you don't have an option in your area.
In the past, Tiny Earth Toys was the place to go online for inexpensive and high-quality toy rentals. Today, parents can get a similar service at Kiddos Toys Club. It offers multiple subscription options, including a basic package with three toys per child or a deluxe package with five toys each.
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