Every summer we test new sandbox gear in our own yard, and the pattern is always the same. A bare wooden box gets rained on, leaves blow in, and by the second week something has been in it. A sandbox with a cover solves almost all of that in one move, which is why we’ve … Read more
The best board games for family game night are the ones a household can teach in under five minutes, finish in under an hour, and play with a wide age spread at the same table. On this list that means SEQUENCE, Rummikub and Hues and Cues lead the field, with a fast dice filler and … Read more
Four years old is the age when a child stops being satisfied with stacking blocks and starts asking how the grown-ups play the thing on the table. The best board games for 4 year olds share four traits: simple rules, play times under about 20 minutes, cooperative or low-stakes play, and enough structure that a … Read more
The best wooden playset for a backyard is built on 4×4 cedar framing, meets ASTM residential playground standards, ships with capped hardware and an anchor kit, and leaves a 6-foot clear fall zone on every side. Those four things matter more than the number of features bolted to the tower. We spent six weeks comparing … Read more
If you want the short answer first: the Step2 Rain Showers Splash Pond is the best water table for toddlers, because it puts a working waterfall and a 13-piece accessory kit at a height a child can actually reach. We spent weeks with eleven of the most-reviewed water tables on the market, filled them, drained … Read more
The best inflatable water slides for kids turn a hot suburban afternoon into the kind of summer memory your children will talk about all winter. After our team spent weeks comparing ten of the most popular backyard water parks, we found that the difference between a slide that lasts three summers and one that gets … Read more
If you only read one line of this roundup, read this one: the SEREED Baby Balance Bike is our pick for the best balance bikes for toddlers in for a child between 12 and 24 months, because it weighs 3.5 pounds, sits low, and is light enough for a one-year-old to lift alone. For a … Read more
Short answer: buy one two-seater if your twins will sit still and share, and buy two matching single-riders if they will not. Ride on toys for twins come down to three numbers that most product pages never put next to each other — the total weight limit, the number of seats, and the charging time. … Read more
If you are searching for the best ride-on toys for 2 year olds, start with a pushed foot-to-floor car for indoor use and a balance bike or pedal trike for outside. Battery-powered 12V cars are the one category we would hold off on at this age. Here is why, plus the twelve picks we would … Read more
An electric ride-on car for kids with remote control is a battery-powered toy car, truck or buggy that a child drives with a foot pedal, and that also ships with a handheld 2.4GHz parental remote. Press a button on that remote and an adult instantly takes over the steering and throttle, so they can cap … Read more