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Traditional toys have a lot of competition from their digital counterparts and many parents are looking for ways to balance screen time. The biggest challenge? Finding toys kids actually want to play with — and can still learn from.
Small hands definitely want to interact with tablets and smartphones, but they also want to make, build, and bang things together — and that’s where these traditional toys have an edge. Digital devices put a ton at a kid’s fingertips, but there is a limit to just how hands on they can actually be without smashing up a piece of expensive gadgetry. Toys are designed to be raced across floors, stacked and toppled over, and tossed around.
At Walmart, you can find affordable toys for children of all ages, from babies to grade schoolers. Whether you’re shopping for your own offspring, a niece or a nephew, or a birthday gift for a friend’s toddler, toys turn learning into play.
They have all sorts of building blocks
Blocks keep a kid’s mind and hands busy allowing their imaginations to flow with or without a masterplan. Maybe they want to make a tiny house or just see how many pieces they can stack as high as the sky. Walmart has blocks even toddlers and young kids can handle. The 80-piece Mega Bloks First Builders Big Building Bag ($14.92, normally $24.99) comes in classic shades — or a graphic designer’s spin of the color wheel in turquoise, pink, lime, and purple. If you’re looking for a building set fully within a preschooler’s wheelhouse, Mega Bloks Peek A Blocks Amusement Park ($15.08, normally $19.99) takes it up a notch with levers, slides, and animal characters.
Plenty to explore in offline sandbox games
Along with Mandalorian- and Avengers-themed sets, Walmart is fully stocked on the LEGOs young fans want to get their hands on, as well as LEGO versions of sandbox games like LEGO Minecraft The Trading Post ($16, normally $20) and LEGO Minecraft The Abandoned Mine ($16, normally $20) for kids 8 and older. In this buzzy niche, players construct a hive of activity featuring a beekeeper with elytra wings (a.k.a. the type of hooded wings found on beetles in nature and thrown around Minecraft speak), four friendly bees and four angry bees, which can fly using a rotating feature, some sheep, and a villager.
Kids can toss around DIY ideas
Walmart carries beloved brands which have stood the test of time like Play-Doh, a reusable, nontoxic, pliable putty first sold in the 1950s. With nine tools and a convenient carry case, the Play-Doh Start Set with 4 Cans of Play-Doh ($6.49, normally $9.96) gives young makers plenty to work with. The Play-Doh Drill 'n Fill Dentist ($11.97, normally $14.99) can reinforce the importance of toothbrushing (especially for kids losing their baby teeth) and make visiting the dentist less scary.
For thinking outside the toybox, Walmart has toys for kids of all ages at great prices. With so much to choose from, you can level up when they’re ready for the next challenge at Walmart.
