KiwiCo’s Wind Play Lab: The Most Popular Toy in My House
My kids are two and a half years apart, so while they enjoy playing with each other’s toys from time to time, rarely do they both lock into the same toy at the same time. Turns out, all it takes is one miniature wacky, waving, inflatable tube man to capture their attention simultaneously.
We’ve experimented with KiwiCo’s popular kits before. I have a shelf housing the brand’s Fun Dough Pasta Maker and the Microscope Exploration Set, among other products. I love how well the toys are made, but sometimes the lack of a certain Amazon-garbage-style flash means my kids will fool around with the kits for a few minutes, then be done.
That was not the case with the Wind Play Lab. The minute I unpacked this sucker, my kids were RAPT. It’s not even like it’s a particularly complex toy; it’s a mini version of a wind machine, like the kind you’d see in a science museum. The battery-powered base provides the wind, and the box comes with a variety of accessories to shoot up a tube. Here’s what it looks like in motion:
It took a while for my kids to get bored with the foam balls, scarves, and hearts that were included in the box. (When I tell you they were SQUEALING every time something went up in the air, I mean the living room sounded like a pig sty at dinnertime.) Once they did get a little fatigued, I told them to go find light objects around the house to experiment with. Tissues and stuffy fluff were hits; pennies and small rocks, my 3-year-old’s contributions, were not.
They played with this toy for five consecutive afternoons, and it’s still the first toy we reach for when guests come over. (Children, not full adults. Though they’d probably like it, too.)
Full disclosure: I actually begged KiwiCo to send over some bestsellers to help us get through the long, unforgiving winter in the Pacific Northwest. They graciously sent a few things and while the Wind Play Lab was indisputably our favorite, the Light Play Lab was a close second. Both are great mess-free options for rainy afternoons!
