The Magical Toy Shoppe
This past weekend, we visited The Magical Toy Shoppe at 700 East Main Street. And, it really is nothing short of magical (see what I did there...). Anyway, I love shopping local when I can and really love smaller toy stores. But, they usually are so very small that you can barely turn around or are filled with fancy toys, but have nothing for your kids to actually see, touch or play with. Nothing beats going to a toy store and repeatedly pleading with your kiddo not to touch anything. This isn't the case with The Magical Toy Shoppe. It is definitely on the smaller scale, but I was really surprised how much they do fit in there without it being overwhelming.
Now, for the details, they are located at 700 East Main Street in Lexington. Parking is a small lot in front of the building and street parking. They are open from 10am to 5pm during the week, 10am to 4pm on Saturday, and closed on Sunday. Their Facebook page is here. And, in case you are potty training, they do have a nice bathroom with a changing table.
I have a dream toy store in my mind with lots of neat, durable toys that you don't necessarily see anywhere else. That you walk in and people greet you and make you feel welcome and don't bat an eye at your kiddo touching everything. That you turn the corner and find a new, cool area that you didn't see before. This place comes pretty darn close to this dream. My son walked in and was instantly drawn to all the areas they had set up for playing. Lots of toys were set out so kids can try them, which is really genius since no parent likes to take home a toy and realize your kids really could not care less about it. There were tables with different magnetic building blocks, a wooden block robot that my son loved, some texture toys to feel and mold with, garbage trucks, and more.
They also had a small room with a tent, a chest full of Green Toys items, car road rugs, and other various toys for playing. Then, they had a larger room with a train table and lots of other toys that the kids could play with.
On the day that we were there, they were having a special event where you could make your own silly putty. The putty was really already made, but the kids could add color and mix it in by twisting and pulling the putty before putting it in a special case they could decorate and take it home for more play. All for free!
They carry higher quality toys with brands like Melissa and Doug,Green Toys, SmartMax, Hape, and Q-Ba. If your kiddo likes Water Wow books, they have the largest variety I have seen in Lexington. They were even putting out some locally made wooden train toys when we were there. I don't know about your kids, but my son seems to play with toys like this way longer because they have the flexibility to be played with many different ways. They also seem to last forever, which is great. They also have Paw Patrol toys and other more branded toys for your kids that enjoy a certain show or character. So, I think there is something for everyone and really for every budget. They obviously had some really expensive toys, but also lots of smaller items if your kiddo has a hard time leaving a store without buying something. They also carry toys for babies to teenagers and everything in between.
The Magical Toy Shoppe is currently working on setting up story times and are scheduling some really neat themed ones. For example, the owner is working on setting up a having a therapy dog for children to pet or have guided play with musical instruments. And, when I asked, the owner also said that kids are always welcome to stop by and they would be happy to sit and read with anyone. How cool is that! As I mentioned above, they do have small, free events like the Silly Putty one that kids can stop by and do during the day.
One thing I did notice is that the owner and employees mentioned many times that they are happy to have kids come and play with not expectation that they buy anything. Now, we all know how hard it is for kids to leave a toy store empty-handed, but I loved how welcome they are. When my son dropped a toy on the ground, there were no mean looks or comments under the breath. They genuinely seemed to want kids there to play, explore and enjoy what they had. This is a very rare thing to find in a store and I loved it.
Really the only small negative I found was there is a set of stairs that my son was pretty convinced lead to another level of toys, toys, toys. It would be great if they had a sign there or rope to close it off. And, a larger parking lot would be great, but I understand that the location makes this tough. As an added bonus, this is about a block away from Magee's Bakery. So, you could always get some delicious breakfast and then walk over for some play. Overall, I would highly recommend this as a place to check out. It is so great to support a local business owner and get some high quality toys too. And, I can't wait to see what they have planned for the coming months for events and story times!
