A modern lifestyle brand redefining motherhood

Natural, wooden toys are some of our favorite things to buy for our little ones. Wooden toys are beautiful, sustainable, and can often be passed down from child to child. They encourage open-ended play and spark imagination—all while looking great scattered all over your living room floor 🙌

You may think that wooden toys aren't accessible, but think again, mamas—your old friend Target has done it again.

From super affordable to splurge-worthy, here are 11 of our favorite wooden toys to add to your playroom.

1. Vegetable Toy Set



Veggies never looked so good! With 22 pieces of kitchen-themed food + accessories, little ones will love cooking right alongside you with this imaginative play set.

Hearth & Hand with Magnolia Wooden Vegetable Toy Set
$19.99, Target

BUY

2. Building Blocks


Let their imaginations fly with this timeless, heirloom quality building block set that your littles will play with for years.

Melissa & Doug Wooden Building Blacks + Tray (60pc set)
$55.99, Target

BUY

3. Tunnels + Arches Set



For an alternative to standard blocks, give these wooden arches a whirl. They're an investment, but the possibilities for creative play are endless.

Wooden Tunnels + Arches Set
$130.00, Target

BUY

4. Brew + Serve Coffee Set



Coffee, anyone? Let your little one be your own personal barista with this realistic play set.

Melissa & Doug Wooden Brew & Serve Coffee Set
$16.99, Target

BUY

5. Toy Tool Bench



Perfect for the mini Chip + Jo in your life, this 38-piece set will keep your little ones fixing and tinkering for hours.

Hearth & Hand with Magnolia Wooden Toy Tool Bench
$99.99, Target

BUY

6. Gear Stacker Toy



Puzzle + stacker in one, these wooden gears teach colors, shapes, and spacial awareness.

Begin Again Wooden Gear Stacker Toy
$13.49, Target

BUY

7. Train Set



Train sets are playroom staples and ideal for growing with your child. From toddlers to older kiddos, there are endless possibilities for pretend play with this simple, beautiful set.

Battat All Aboard Deluxe Wooden Train Set
$49.99, Target

BUY

8. Retro Play Kitchen



For the ultimate in pretend play, we're swooning over this deluxe retro kitchen set. It features everything your little ones will need to whip up the next culinary masterpiece!

Teamson Kids Retro Wooden Play Kitchen
$299.00, Target

BUY

9. Farm A to Z Puzzle



This play set + puzzle + letter toy all in one is the ultimate in multi-purpose play.

Begin Again Wooden Farm Puzzle from A to Z
$39.99, Target

BUY

10. Shape Matching Board



We love the simple, clean design of this matching board. It's a great way to introduce your little one to basic colors + shapes, and the pegged handles are perfect for tiny hands.

Bigjigs Toys Shape Matching Board
$24.99, Target

BUY

11. Tegu Pocket Pouch



These magnetic wooden blocks are the perfect combination of style + function. This on-the-go set is perfect for restaurants, planes, or any time your little one needs a creative distraction.

Tegue 8-piece Pocket Pouch
$26.99, Target

BUY

You might also like:

Motherly is your daily #momlife manual; we are here to help you easily find the best, most beautiful products for your life that actually work. We share what we love—and we may receive a commission if you choose to buy. You've got this.

Jennifer LaBracio

MotherlyLoves Editor

shopping Target toys best baby toys wooden toys
Who said motherhood doesn't come with a manual?

Subscribe to get inspiration and super helpful ideas to rock your #momlife. Motherhood looks amazing on you.

Already a subscriber? Log in here.

New Jersey expands paid family leave 👏

Parents in New Jersey will soon get more money and more time for parental leave after welcoming a baby.

This week New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed off on legislation that extends New Jersey's paid family leave from six weeks to 12.

It also increases the benefit cap from 53% of the average weekly wage to 70%, meaning the maximum benefit for a parent on family leave will be $860 a week, up from $650.

It might not seem like a huge difference, but by raising the benefit from two-thirds of a parent's pay to 85%, lawmakers in New Jersey are hoping to encourage more parents to actually take leave, which is good for the parents, their baby and their family. "Especially for that new mom and dad, we know that more time spent bonding with a child can lead to a better long-term outcome for that child," Murphy said at a press conference this week.

The law will also make it easier for people to take time off when a family member is sick.

Because NJ's paid leave is funded through payroll deductions, workers could see an increase in those deductions, but Murphy is betting that workers and businesses will see the benefits in increasing paid leave benefits. "Morale goes up, productivity goes up, and more money goes into the system," Murphy said. "And increasingly, companies big and small realize that a happy workforce and a secure workforce is a key ingredient to their success."

The new benefits will go into effect in July 2020 (making next Halloween a good time to get pregnant in the Garden State).

You might also like:

paid leave now paid parental leave paid leave new jersey giving birth new jersey maternity leave

Walmart is having a huge baby gear + product sale this weekend!

Whether you just need to stock up on diapers or you've had your eye on a specific piece of baby gear, you might want to swing by your local Walmart this Saturday, February 23rd.

Walmart's big "Baby Savings Day" is happening from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at participating Walmarts (but more deals can be found online at Walmart.com already and the website deals are happening for the rest of the month).

About 3,000 of the 3,570 Supercenter locations are participating in the sale (check here to see if your local Walmart is).

The deals vary, but in general you can expect up to 30% off on items like cribs, strollers, car seats, wipes, diapers and formula.

Some items, like this Graco Modes 3 Lite Travel System have been marked down by more than $100. Other hot items include this Lille Baby Complete Carrier (It's usually $119, going for $99 during the sale) and the Graco 4Ever 4-in-1 Convertible Car Seat (for as low as $199).

So if you're in need of baby gear, you should check out this sale. Travel gear isn't the only category that's been marked down, there are some steep discounts on breast pumps, too.

Many of the Walmart locations will also be offering samples and expert demos of certain products on Saturday so it's worth checking out!

Motherly is your daily #momlife manual; we are here to help you easily find the best, most beautiful products for your life that actually work. We share what we love—and we may receive a commission if you choose to buy. You've got this.

You might also like:

walmart sale baby day walmart walmart baby sale deals deals for moms sale

Pregnant Amy Schumer cancels tour due to hyperemesis 😢

Any Schumer has not had an easy pregnancy. She intended to keep working, but if you follow her on social media you know she's been very sick through each trimester.

And now in her final trimester she's had to cancel her tour due to hyperemesis gravidarum, also known as HG. It's a rare but very serious form of extreme morning sickness, and on Friday evening Schumer announced she is canceling the rest of her tour because of it.

“I vomit every time [I] ride in a car even for 5 minutes," Schumer explained in an Instagram post.

Due to the constant vomiting she's not cleared to fly and just can't continue to the tour.

This is not the first time Schumer has had to make an announcement about HG. Back in November, just weeks after announcing her pregnancy, she had to cancel shows and again broke the news via Instagram.

She posted a photo of herself in a hospital bed with her little dog Tati, and spelled out the details of her health issues in the caption. "I have hyperemesis and it blows," Schumer wrote.

Poor Amy. Hyperemesis gravidarum is really tough.

Kate Middleton, Ayesha Curry and Motherly co-founder Elizabeth Tenety are among those who, like Schumer, have suffered from this form of severe morning sickness that can be totally debilitating.

As she previously wrote for Motherly, Tenety remembers becoming desperately ill, being confined to her apartment (mostly her bed) and never being far from a trash can, "I lost 10% of my body weight. I became severely dehydrated. I couldn't work. I couldn't even get out of bed. I could barely talk on the phone to tell my doctor how sick I was—begging them to please give me something, anything—to help."

Thankfully, she found relief through a prescription for Zofran, an anti-nausea drug.


Schumer probably knows all about that drug. It looks she is getting the medical help she obviously needs, and she was totally right to cancel the tour in order to stay as healthy as possible.

We're glad to see Schumer is getting help, and totally understand why she would have to cancel her shows. Any mama who has been through HG will tell you, that wouldn't be a show you'd want front row seats for anyway.

Get well soon, Amy!

[A version of this post was published November 15, 2018. It has been updated.]

You might also like:

hyperemesis gravidarum extreme morning sickness amy schumer

This viral video of a soldier surprising his wife after she gave birth is 😭

As a military spouse, Cydney Cooper is used to doing things alone. But when she delivered her twin daughters early after complications due to Influenza A, she was missing her husband Skylar more than ever.

Recovering from the flu and an emergency C-section, and trying to parent the couple's two older boys and be with her new infant daughters in the NICU, Cydney was exhausted and scared and just wanted her husband who was deployed in Kuwait with the Army and wasn't expected home for weeks.

Alone in the NICU 12 days after giving birth, Cydney was texting an update on the twins to her husband when he walked through the door to shoulder some of the massive burden this mama was carrying.

"I was typing up their summary as best I could and trying to remember every detail to tell him when I looked up and saw him standing there. Shock, relief, and the feeling that everything was just alright hit me at once. I just finally let go," she explains in a statement to Motherly.

The moment was captured on video thanks to a family member who was in on Skylar's surprise and the reunion has now gone viral, having been viewed millions of times. It's an incredible moment for the couple who hadn't seen each other since Skylar had a three-day pass in seven months earlier.

Cydney had been caring for the couple's two boys and progressing in her pregnancy when, just over a week before the viral video was taken, she tested positive for Influenza A and went into preterm labor. "My husband was gone, my babies were early, I had the flu, and I was terrified," she tells Motherly.

"Over the next 48 hours they were able to stop my labor and I was discharged from the hospital. It only lasted two days and I went right back up and was in full on labor that was too far to stop."

Cydney needed an emergency C-section due to the babies' positioning, and her medical team could not allow anyone who had previously been around her into the operating room because anyone close to Cydney had been exposed to the flu.

"So I went in alone. The nurses and doctors were wonderful and held my hand through the entire thing but at the same time, I felt very very alone and scared. [Skylar] had been present for our first two and he was my rock and I didn't have him when I wanted him the most. But I did it! He was messaging me the second they wheeled me to recovery. Little did I know he was already working on being on his way."

When he found out his baby girls were coming early Skylar did everything he could to get home, and seeing him walk into the NICU is a moment Cydney will hold in her heart and her memory forever. "I had been having to hop back and forth from our sons to our daughters and felt guilty constantly because I couldn't be with all of them especially with their dad gone. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life and I won't be forgetting it."

It's so hard for a military spouse to do everything alone after a baby comes, and the military does recognize this. Just last month the Army doubled the amount of leave qualifying secondary caregivers (most often dads) can take after a birth or adoption, from 10 days to 21 so that moms like Cydney don't have to do it all alone.

You might also like:

military spouses pregnancy viral video military reunion viral video solider twins military family giving birth
Motherly provides information of a general nature and is designed for educational purposes only. This site does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.Your use of the site indicates your agreement to be bound by our  Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Information on our advertising guidelines can be found here.