Top Three Iso Toys Under $30

As a lot of you parents know, finding suitable toys for your kids can be extremely challenging. Now throw in self-isolation, on top of all the stresses and pressure that already exists. It might seem like there’s no other option but to hand over the iPad, but there are more toys out there to keep them busy than you might think. 

The best toys are those that stimulate creativity, encourage the practice of a skill (or skills), don’t have an end point and can be used again and again in different ways, keeping the kids busy for hours. That way you get the best bang for your buck and ensure you don’t end up with too many toys to count at the end of the isolation period. 

We’ve come up with our top three isolation toys to keep your tribe, however big, busy during these challenging times. 

LEGO Basic Brick Set

If you’re looking for a toy for the kids, aged 4+ that stimulates their creativity, and keeps them busy for hours, look no further.

With this Lego Classic Basic Brick Set, what they can create is only limited by their imagination. From castles to cars, horses to helicopters, this toy really does suit almost any kid. It can be used for a quick hour of entertainment or turn into a project that they keep coming back to. 

Given that this LEGO kit isn’t themed & is just a classic set, there’s no such thing as finished. Plus there’s no having to find that one piece in the set that seems to have vanished.

However if the kids are really struggling for ideas on what to build, there’s heaps of inspiration to be found on the kids friendly LEGO website, complete with instructions on how to build.

Also for those super LEGO fans out there, recently it has been announced that LEGO will be doing a special collaboration with Australian designer and artist, Rachel Burke. Rachel will be hosting a two week video release on her YouTube channel Tinsel Town with free “craftorials”  including one of LEGO’s latest products, LEGO DOTS. 

LEGO DOTS are a 2D play range, including wearables and home décor, designed to help kids get imaginative and express themselves on a blank canvas. Rachel will be using these LEGO DOTS in her “craftorials”, providing inspiration as well as showing kids how to make headlands, earrings, bag charms, sneaker plates and photo frames using the new product. 

Rachel Burke’s YouTube channel can be found here:

To add to all the excitement, the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is holding a competition where kids are to create a LEGO masterpiece inspired by their dream travel destination. The prize includes a LEGO Roller Coaster Set and four annual passes to the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Melbourne, valued at over $800. To enter, post a picture of the creation in the comments of this post (link here), entries close Sunday 26^th April. 

Anyway, back to the toys. 

Magnetic Building Blocks

If your kids are a little more mechanically minded, then these magnetic building blocks are perfect. As well as this, they aid in the development of colour and shape recognition and geometrical awareness. 

Suitable for kids aged 3+ this is a great toy for your kids to play with together, or go solo in building using their creativity to create castles, skyscrapers or houses on the street. 

Being colourful, easy to clean and packing away flat mean that they are an easy way for parents to ensure that their kids are thinking and having fun, as well as learning fine motor skills and spatial awareness. Also, the window frame and roofing pieces that come in this particular set create a more engaging build process for the young ones. 

Marble Run

Marble runs are an easy to use toy which are a great way to keep the kids busy and improve a variety of skills including sequencing, understanding cause & effect and geometrical awareness. 

This colourful 105 piece set includes barrels, paddles, buckets and slides which create an engaging experience that can be changed time and time again. Since no two marble runs will ever be the same, you can be sure that this will be a popular toy amongst the kids.

Having so many pieces in the set means that the marble runs can be of varying lengths and complexity and the kids can work on marble runs individually, or work together to build bigger and better runs.