Play kit subscription · Updated September 4, 2026

Kindy vs Lovevery

Lovevery's Play Kits are stage-based toy subscriptions for birth to age 4 or 5: $120 per kit every three months for ages 1 and up, each with a Play Guide, plus a parent app covering ages 0 to 36 months. Kindy is a $9.99 a month parent-led preschool curriculum for ages 3 to 5 that places the child by a free readiness check and gives the parent one 10 to 15 minute activity a day using things at home. Both are screen-free for the child and built on the same belief that the parent is the teacher. Choose Lovevery for beautiful, developmentally designed materials chosen by age. Choose Kindy for a daily plan chosen by what your child can already do.

Choose Kindy if

  • You want the plan to follow what your child can do, not their birthday
  • You want a daily activity with what to say, using what is already at home
  • Your child is 3 to 5 and kindergarten readiness is the goal
  • $9.99 a month fits better than $480 a year in kits

Choose The Play Kits if

  • You want high-quality physical materials designed for each stage, delivered
  • Your child is under 3, where Lovevery's kits and app are strongest
  • You value the unboxing and the toys as much as the guidance
  • Budget is not the constraint

At a glance

Kindy and The Play Kits at a glance. Facts checked September 4, 2026; sources at the end of the page.
KindyThe Play Kits
Price$9.99 per month, $4.99 per month for each additional child, cancel anytime in the app$120 per Play Kit every 3 months for ages 1 to 4 (about $480/year); $80 per kit under age 1
Free option or trialFree readiness assessment with full results kept in the account; no card needed; subscribe only if you want the daily curriculumnone published for Play Kits (physical subscription box, not a free trial); The Lovevery App offers a 28-day free trial for non-Play-Kits-subscribers
Ages3-5 (the two to three years before kindergarten); placement is by ability, not age0-5 (Play Kits are sold for birth through age 4; company site describes play essentials for ages 0-4/0-5 across the two shop domains)
Who is on the screenThe parent onlyNobody
Formatweb app for the parent (installable on a phone); activities are done hands-on, off screenbox
Time per dayOne 10 to 15 minute activity a day; the app offers more on energetic daysNot published
How it adapts to the childEvery activity ends with one tap on how it went (Nailed it, Almost, Not yet). Three Nailed it ratings mark a skill mastered and it leaves the rotation; mastered letters and skills circle back for quick reviews so they stick. The next day's activity is chosen from the child's current level across all areas.None described as adaptive to an individual child's progress or ability; kits are assigned by child's age/stage. Site language: kits are 'timed to your child's development' with specified age/month ranges per kit, and marketed as 'Stage-based play essentials for your child's developing brain.'
How the child is placedBy a readiness assessmentBy age
Skills coveredliteracy (letters, sounds, print awareness), early math (counting, number sense, shapes), language (vocabulary, storytelling, listening), thinking (problem solving, memory), social-emotional (sharing, manners, separation, feelings), fine motor (pencil grip, scissors, self-help), focus and self-controlobservation, storytelling, problem-solving, analysis (fine motor development, per The Analyst kit for almost-four-year-olds), flexible thinking, critical thinking, frustration tolerance, planning ahead
Secular or faith-basedsecularsecular
What the parent doesThe parent reads today's activity on their phone and does it with the child using things at home; the app tells them what to do and what to say. The child never uses the app.Parent/caregiver plays with the child using the included Play Guide, which the company describes as providing 'week-by-week guidance for what to focus on at every stage with articles, activities, and more.' The companion Lovevery App is explicitly for the parent/caregiver, not the child: it offers 'hundreds of stage-based activities and ideas,' an 'Ask Lovevery' expert Q&A feature, and monthly developmental tracking to help parents 'understand and identify your child's emerging skills.' A customer testimonial quoted on the official site states the kits 'made it easy to intentionally play with my child.'

What each one actually is

Lovevery was founded in 2017 by Jessica Rolph and Roderick Morris in Boise, Idaho, and has raised over $130 million. Its Play Kits ship by age: every two months for the first year at $80, then every three months at $120 per kit for ages 1 through 4, with up to 10% off for prepaying. Each kit brings a set of playthings and a Play Guide with week-by-week guidance, and the company describes them as timed to the child's development. The Lovevery App, free for kit subscribers, offers stage-based activities and expert Q&A for ages 0 to 36 months. Cancellation must happen at least three days before the next shipment, and a prepaid discount is forfeited on cancellation.

Kindy costs $9.99 a month and ships nothing. A free readiness check places the child by what they can already do across literacy, early math, language, thinking, social-emotional and fine motor skills. Each day the parent gets one 10 to 15 minute hands-on activity with what to do and say, using household items, and taps how it went; tomorrow adjusts. Cancel in one tap.

Stage by age versus placement by ability

Lovevery and Kindy agree on almost everything that matters to a parent of a small child: play is the work, the parent is the guide, and the child should not be on a screen. They disagree on one thing. Lovevery chooses by age; the kit for a three year old is the kit for every three year old. Kindy chooses by ability; two three year olds with different readiness pictures get different activities, and the picture updates from every rating.

For the preschool years specifically, that difference grows. Lovevery's app content ends at 36 months, and the kits for ages 3 and 4 focus on skills like observation, problem-solving, flexible thinking and frustration tolerance. Kindy's plan for the same ages is built around what kindergarten will actually look for, including letters, counting, listening and self-help, and it tells you what to do today.

Where The Play Kits is the better choice

The materials. Lovevery's playthings are designed, tested and beautiful, and the Play Guide is genuinely good parent education. For families who want the objects themselves, no plan made from household items competes, and for babies and toddlers Lovevery is the more complete product.

Simplicity of use. A kit arrives, the guide says what to do with it, and it lasts three months. There is no daily rating and no app the parent must open.

Where Kindy is the better choice

A plan for kindergarten readiness that starts from your child. Placement by assessment, one activity a day chosen for your child, and progress that reflects what they can actually do. Lovevery's kits and app are by age, and its app stops at 36 months.

Cost. $9.99 a month against $120 every three months, with nothing to ship, store or cancel three days ahead. Kindy uses what you already have at home and can be cancelled in one tap with results kept free.

Questions parents ask

How much does Lovevery cost for a 3 or 4 year old?

$120 per Play Kit, shipped every three months, so about $480 a year, with up to 10% off for prepaying multiple kits. Checked September 4, 2026.

Does the Lovevery app cover preschoolers?

The Lovevery App's stated content range is ages 0 to 36 months. Lovevery's own site lists a question about ages 37 months and older; we could not confirm coverage beyond three years.

Does Kindy send any materials?

No. Kindy's activities use things you already have at home. Some activities include an optional printable worksheet or a short video for the parent.

Is Lovevery adaptive to my child?

Kits are chosen by the child's age and stage and the guide is the same for every child of that age. Kindy places by a readiness check and adjusts after every activity.

Can I use both?

Yes. Many Kindy activities can be done with Lovevery materials, and Kindy lets you log outside activities so they count toward progress.

Sources

Facts about The Play Kits:

Facts about Kindy:

Note: Play Kits are a physical toy subscription box, not a digital curriculum; the child's play is with physical materials (screen-free for the child), while a separate companion app (The Lovevery App) is a parent-facing resource, not child-facing. Exact per-kit playthings count was not confirmed on an official page in this research; a 2026-01-05 third-party review (wanderlustchloe.com) describes each kit as including 'a minimum of two wooden toys,' a hardback picture book, sensory items, multipurpose items, and the Play Guide, and other third-party reviews describe '5-8 items' per kit -- these figures are from reviews, not confirmed verbatim on lovevery.com/shop.lovevery.com in this research pass, so number of playthings is left unconfirmed rather than stated as a specific figure. The official product page uses 'Montessori' only in passing marketing language ('Montessori to the way you play') rather than a detailed methodology claim; a third-party review (wanderlustchloe.com, 2026-01-05) characterizes the brand as 'MontessorISH rather than strictly Montessori.' Prepay discount percentage (up to 10%, ~5% for 3-kit prepay) is sourced from third-party review/search summary of Lovevery's own checkout terms, not a directly quoted official page in this research pass, so treat the exact percentage as approximate. Some site content differs between lovevery.com (redirects to shop.lovevery.com) and shop.lovevery.com; both were treated as the same official source. No explicit 'screen-free' marketing phrase was found on the pages fetched, though the product itself (physical toys) is inherently screen-free for the child.

Other comparisons