Lovevery Storyteller Play Kit Review: Worth It vs Amazon in 2023?!

Wondering if the Lovevery Storyteller Play Kit for Months 40, 41, 42 is worth it vs Amazon self curating? In short: YES!

But… there's some things to consider first…

In this post, I'll walk you through each item included in The Storyteller Play Kit from Lovevery, our personal experience with it after 9+ months of use followed by how the items compare to Amazon Alternatives and other toy dupes (with links to shop those as well if self curating this Lovevery play kit!).

What's inside The Storyteller Play Kit from Lovevery? [+ Amazon Alternatives!]

The fort set can be configured in a wide range of combinations for pretend play.

Personal Experience:

I wasn't sure how much we'd like this item – let alone take it out to use – but I have to say it's pretty awesome and we do use it every few weeks!

While the fort set is easy connect, and I think older 3 year olds will be able to do it themselves, having given this to my daughter a little early (just as she turned 3) she has never assembled it herself. I did work on her with it around 3.5 years old, but she isn't quite strong enough to get it together. She has been able to disassemble and help put it away since 3 years old though.

Storing it when not in use isn't too bad; we saved the boxes and just put everything back in those.

Both of my kids love to use the dowels as drum sticks, wands, and random other pretend play objects. It's really fun to see what they come up with even when this isn't being used as a fort.

Dupes:

While this one is most comparable to Lovevery's in terms of total number of pieces, I would recommend getting this fort building set instead. I find ourselves wanting more pieces for the Lovevery one, especially with multiple kids, and love that this pick has twice as many!

One short yellow, one long blue, and one yellow and blue with a little window.

Personal Experience:

We use the fabric with the window for puppet shows sometimes, but my toddler really loves it to play “store” or house with it.

We've also combined these with some Sarah's Silks to make “bedrooms” and even paired it with a crawling tunnel for added fun.

Overall I 10/10 suggest having something like this and the last item for your home!

Dupes:

For a Puppet show theater dupe, I love this doorway one for easy/small storage or this one which comes with a stand.

However if you got the fort set, I love these fabrics for fort building, and you can easily create a draped window/door effect with clips!

Personal Experience:

We love these! They pair perfectly with the Observer Play Kit and have been SO helpful in play with our 3 year old processing emotions.

Dupes:

I won't lie, you can grab a six pairs of old socks and some emotional eye stickers like this or this for an easy, affordable DIY version. As a bonus, you can use the extra stickers for tons of other activities about emotions.

But you can also purchase this set of emotion dolls or this set of puppets.

Personal Experience:

This item is great quality, perfectly sized, and my toddler loves it; but I hope they remove it in the future.

There's a simple hack you can do with a swiffer to create something similar. And while that obviously doesn't have the wet jet part, I think it's good enough and I just love Lovevery items so much that I hope they put something a little more creative/unique in future iterations.

Dupes:

This set has a kids mop in it – it doesn't have the spray feature though.

Instead what we ended up doing (since my second kid wanted his own kids spray mop) was getting this mop and just removing the middle section so the handle clips to the wet jet base and it's kid sized. This is the same montessori hack I show in the video above using a regular Swiffer where you attached the handle to the base to make it toddler sized.

Personal Experience:

I personally LOVED this puzzle from the moment I saw it. One side features just the letters and the other features the letters with an animal to practice letter sounds. The puzzle pieces themselves are this clear plastic, which makes for a fun put together as you match and see the board underneath.

However my toddler never really loved this puzzle. I've said in past reviews that around 2 or 2.5 she just stopped being into puzzles though.

My issue has more to do with a couple of the letters. We all know b, d, and p can be confusing for toddler. But this puzzle makes it especially confusing. The d and p look the exact same and you don't know which way is up on the puzzle piece since the background is clear on both of them (you can't use clues of surrounding puzzle to ensure it's in the right spot). Beyond that, the q looks the exact same as the b so you have this issue happening double time.

Dupes:

This Melissa & Doug floor puzzle is a similar version of the animal side of Lovevery's. It's a traditional floor puzzle so it's a little easier than Lovevery's as toddlers can use color clues of the puzzle pieces to get letters in the right spot. As an added bonus, it's montessori aligned featuring real animals.

Personal Experience:

This is my daughters FAVORITE book from Lovevery of all time. I honestly think I've read it close to 500 times.

I think she loves it so much because I've always smudged her in a similar way since she was a baby. I've studied under several shamans over the years and there's a lot of overlap to certain shamanic practices and Native American practices, and so she's been to ceremonies that have a lot of elements featured in the book so I think it just touched her very deeply.

Dupes

Of course, nothing exactly like Lovevery's however there are some really great books about Native American tribes and practices for preschoolers:

• Grandmother's Dream Catcher: Great for preschoolers who are struggling with nightmares or are interested in dream catchers to learn more about where they come from
• Powwow Day: A comforting story that teaches preschoolers about powwows, feeling isolated, and the healing power of community that feels especially important at this time in our history.
• Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message: You can read a little bit of this book daily, especially in November, as a gratitude practice that originated with the Native people of upstate New York and Canada and that is still spoken at ceremonial gatherings held by the Iroquois, or Six Nations. Full color.

The Storyteller Play Kit Book Bundle

In case you missed it, Lovevery launched “book bundle” add ons for subscribers. For $18 you can add ‘The Naming Ceremony' and ‘Honored To Help' to your play kit with a subscription.

$9 per book is a great price in my opinion and a no brainer to addon.

Lovevery has done a truly fantastic job with the 3 year old play kit books, and I have no doubt these two will match their standards.

Additionally, I'm a huge fan of how they talk about stay at home moms, shown above.

How much does Lovevery's Storyteller Play Kit Cost?

Lovevery's Storyteller Play Kit costs $120, but they do offer prepaid bundle options for up to a 10% discount here.

Is Lovevery Storyteller Play Kit Worth It?

This play kit from Lovevery is truly a personal preference… it's not a clear cut “must have” or “skip.”

Financially:

Financially speaking, you could recreate this play kit for as little as $90 which does come in less than the Lovevery price tag, even with the 10% discount. However if you were to purchase all of the most expensive dupe options you're looking at spending $220, which is $100 more than the cost of this play kit from Lovevery.

Qualitatively:

Honestly I'm COMPLETELY torn on this play kit. I don't think there is a “right” or “wrong” answer here…

Around 3 years old, toddlers really start to understand separation and the concepts of loss and there's a huge need for creating understanding and safety around these concepts.

The book bundle add on (which is only available to subscribers) tackles these concepts. I haven't read the books yet, but I can wholeheartedly say Lovevery's 3 year old books so far have been some of our absolute favorites AND my 3 year old really needs a lot of support around these concepts. So for that reason, I'd get this play kit with the book bundle.

However, if you're not interested in the book bundle, even though you're spending a few extra dollars to curate this yourself, I'd probably self curate.

When I sat down to do the math to see which items I would actually buy if self curating I came up with around $130-$140 out of pocket. If self curating this Lovevery play kit with items from Amazon I'd get:

• this fort kit (twice as many pieces as Lovevery's),
• these fort covers since they are multi-purpose and you'll get a TON more use out of them than just puppet theater/forts,
• the DIY emotion stickers
• the books

Essentially, by self curating you can skip some of the items we haven't used as much, while getting alternative versions that are a bit more multi-purpose than Lovevery's.

Now with that said, if you're subscribed to Lovevery, know this play kit is a good value and you aren't wasting your money by any means! We are happy with it and have certainly gotten $120 worth of use out of it in just 6 months time. As my daughter has moved further into her third year of life, and her imaginative play has gotten more and more creative, I know we'll continue getting a ton of use from these Waldorf inspired open ended toys.

Shop “The Storyteller” Play Kit From Lovevery here!

Originally published 7/15/22; Updated 11/13/23