Lovevery The Enthusiast Play Kit Review For 28, 29, 30 Months: Worth It?

Wondering if The Enthusiast Play Kit from Lovevery is worth it?

In short: yes! In this post, I'll share a video review, the cost of the The Enthusiast play kit from Lovevery, and the pros and cons to it from the perspective of a mom who has had it for about 6 months and how the price compares to recreating this box using Etsy or Amazon dupes!

Discover how my toddler engaged with the items, ways to reimagine them, and which items were busts below!

You can read the FAQs and full review of all the Lovevery Subscription Play Kits here.

Video review: Lovevery's The Enthusiast Play Kit in action

What is inside The Enthusiast Play Kit for Months 28, 29, 30?

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Personal experience:

This was an item my daughter immediately gravitated towards and played with the entire first day after I gave her this play kit.

Through the next week though, her interest definitely waned. Based off her age (I gave it to her about 2 months before the recommended age) and how she engaged with it though, I think it's an item she'll grow into and get a ton of use out of through the preschool and elementrary school years.

She seems drawn to it, but doesn't fully understand it. At 25 months old, she would just take all the puzzle pieces or whatever materials she had and put them all into ONE bucket. Not really understanding the concept yet of “balancing.” She'd do that a few times then move onto something else.

I do like that the pail handles fitting into the grooves offer a fine motor refinement opportunity too.

Dupes:

The most similar wooden weigh scale and metal pails I could find are this one which costs about $30. It's beautiful AND I like that it actually comes with weights. I'd say that was the biggest disappointment of Lovevery's – the fact that it's only half the actual montessori activity.

The next similar dupe I found is this one. It's made of wood, metal, and plastic for $25. Based on the reviews you DO get what you pay for though. Most people complained that this wasn't calibrated, and the counter weights at the top constantly slid around, throwing things off balance. Lastly, many complained that the plastic pans and “strings” they hung from often tipped, and then would throw the counter balance weights on top off. Basically, it was just a frustrating user experience. Whereas with Lovevery I haven't experienced ANY of that.

Lastly, this one comes in at $20, but it's all plastic, and again the reviews say “you get what you pay for” and it's a plastic piece of junk; so buyer be warned.

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Personal Experience:

My daughter had ZERO interest upon initially unboxing. I played with it next to her for about a week then set it on her toy shelf undone (so the pieces in a basket next to it). The first time she did it, she did it very quickly and proceeded to do it a handful more times, but then hasn't touched it much. I think she would've enjoyed this puzzle more around 18-24 months.

Like I said in the Lovevery The Helper Review, most puzzles don't seem challenging enough for her these days.

Amazon Dupe:

This puzzle is basically the exact same and comes in around $13.

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Personal Experience:

WOW! This went from biggest dud to biggest win in the blink of an eye! When I first set the box out, she literally refused to touch this item. Had ZERO interest. I set it out multiple times (never actually opening the picnic box though, just putting the box out waiting for her to discover it) – and nothing! But then around 28 months I asked if she wanted to have a picnic, she said yes, so I got it out for her and set it up and she went WILD! Literally we spent about 6 hours having picnics and tea parties that day and that's not an exaggeration. The next day we spent 4 hours in tea time. It became her new obsession for weeks.

She's been able to pour for a very long time, but this presented a new challenge for her in that the teapot holds more liquid than a single cup (or even two cups) can hold. So she had to learn about when to stop pouring in order to prevent an overflow.

We also LOVE using this with the new park blanket from Lovevery!

Dupes:

This one is probably most similar to what Lovevery provides and comes in at $30. It comes with a beautiful basket, porcelain tea set items, and linens. It's the most Montessori aligned tea set I found. Reviewers did complain about how small the items are, however Lovevery's are small too and perfect for toddler hands. I think this set works well for toddlers, though it's recommended for eight and up. Most likely due to the porcelain, but I think it's perfect for a montessori toddler.

This Amazon dupe is pretty awesome; but sellers are limited and it comes in around $40. It comes with a basket, blanket, cups, cutlery and wooden pretend food your toddler can practice “slicing.” It's also available at Walmart, check the price here.

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Personal Experience:

This was one of the biggest winners of the Enthusiast Play Kit! My daughter cleaned windows for a week straight. For hours.

She loved mastering the squeeze handle, she loved using the squeegee. Everytime I turned around, she was climbing on some new surface to clean another window.

Dupes:

This toddler cleaning set comes in between $10-20 (depends on sales) and is fully functional and includes a spray bottle and squeegee like Lovevery's, but it also has a scouring powder can, soap bottle, soft cloth, a scrub brush, and a sponge. There's even a reusable checklist that helps kids learn what items work best to clean different household objects and areas. Plus a durable caddy with a built-in handle for easy toting and storage.

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Personal Experience:

Another HUGE SUCCESS. I honestly don't know if this or the cleaning set or tea set were the biggest wins. While she played with the cleaning set for HOURS the first week, she played with the glue set for weeks daily almost.

I was initially disappointed when I looked at this play kit and the Helper because they both include activities like this, where you'll end up “using up” all the materials. However, I have to say, I LOVED them both.

Sometimes it's hard for me to find the motivation to set up an activity I'm not totally convinced my toddler will love. A gluing activity fell in that category and I had no interest/desire to cut up a bunch of shapes for a gluing activity. But let me tell you, seeing how much she loves it, I'll 100% be using my Cricut to cut replacement shapes.

What I also love about this activity is the fact that you can make it more challenging as they get older. For example, I used crayons that matched the colors of the shape to draw the outlines and had my daughter glue the matching shape/color in the outline. She's been able to do this independently and it has kept her so engaged.

Amazon Dupes:

This montessori glue set is the most similar to Lovevery's but it's about $40. Unlike Lovevery's it is a wooden box and the jar is glass (Lovevery's is more like a cardboard box and the jar is plastic).

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Personal Experience:

This is a great little montessori inspired book about exploring nature. It contains a fun eye-spy component to finding the animals in the book.

Amazon Dupes:

There are tons of books out there with real animals for your child to eye spy. Most are between $8-12. Here are some Montessori aligned nature books:

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Is The Enthusiast Play Kit from Lovevery worth it?

This one isn't totally clear cut. Yes and no…

Financially speaking:

If you add up the dupes in this post you're looking at between $85-150 to recreate. The range depends on which dupe you chose from each category. Financially speaking, The Enthusiast Play Kit from Lovevery can be recreated for less; at a lower quality.

With that said, if you do plan to homeschool, then I think the play kit is financially worth it due to the quality of the weigh scale and pails. However if you are not homeschooling, I'm not sure how much long term use families will get from that item.

My personal opinion:

When I first looked at the 2-3 year old play kits from Lovevery, this was the one I thought was 100% the biggest loser. So I am SHOCKED by how much my toddler LOVED the items. I'm talking HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS of engagement. My mind has honestly been blown! I'm THRILLED we have it and so is my toddler.

With that said, I still think if there is a play kit to skip in the 2-3 year range, this is it.

While I love the glue activity, you could set something similar up pretty affordably. Secondly, the biggest “lasting item” my toddler loved was the cleaning kit, which you can get a more comprehensive dupe for around $15.

I do love the puzzle, but you can get the exact same one basically for $13 on Amazon and I'd introduce it sooner anyway; I prefer when Lovevery does a unique spin on their puzzles.

Lastly, since we do plan to homeschool instead of elementrary school, the weight scale is something I think will be SO worthwhile. However, I don't see it getting a ton of use over the next year if I'm honest.

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How much does The Enthusiast Play Kit from Lovevery Cost?

The Enthusiast Play Kit is $120. It's intended for 3 months of montessori activities and toys. Their toddler play kits come quarterly. You can get a 10% discount on Lovevery play kits if you pay for a subscription upfront. This brings the price down to $108, or “$36 a month” as it says on their website here.

Shop “The Enthusiast” Play Kit from Lovevery:

You can read the FAQs and full review of Lovevery Subscription Play Kits here.

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