The Toy Chest: Everything You Need to Know

Are you still wistfully looking for that magical fairy who brandishes her wand and in one twitch of her wrist magically cleans your child’s toy-covered bedroom floor?

Yeah. Been there and done that. Unfortunately, for us all, those wand-bearing fairies are only found in the storybooks.

However, there is a close runner-up and one that, while not magical, certainly works like a charm.

If you are tired of wading through or stepping on toys to either kiss your child goodnight or get to your kitchen from the living room, then keep on reading to discover everything you need to know about a kid’s toy chest.

Enjoy!

 What is a Toy Chest?

You may already know what a toy chest is…but just for the record. 😊

A toy chest is your child’s time-tested solution for effective toy storage. Toy chests are rectangular boxes built out of genuine wood, such as maple, and come with a child-safe lid.

How Do You Make a Wooden Toy Chest?

Do you carefully consider the quality of the build of wooden toy chests? If so, you are wise. Genuine wood is a strong building material and the only reason for a wooden toy chest not to last for generations would be a low-quality or hasty build.

Our kid’s toy boxes are built with special care and attention to every detail.

We use many of the same methods of construction for the toy chests as we do for the rest of our lineup, such as our waterfall chests, steamer trunks, cedar hope chests, and reproduction chests, etc.

To begin, solid wood is used throughout the entire build of the chest. We use rabbet joints in the corners, as well as glue and nails to fasten the four sides of the box together. Our toy chests feature a “pinch-free” panel on the front to help protect little fingers from getting pinched while closing the lid. Spring-loaded lid supports also absorb the weight of the lid to prevent the lid from falling shut. We pay careful attention to use only wood that is free of defects (knots, cracks, etc.) so that the end product is as perfect as possible. 

What Wood is Good for a Toy Chest?

When building a toy chest is it ideal to use solid softwood, such as maple or cedar. Contrary to its sound, softwood is still very hard.  At Amish Handcrafted, our choice of wood for our toy chests is solid, soft maple.

The reason we choose maple is that most of our toy chests are painted and soft maple wood is one of the very best hardwoods for painting. The reason is that the grain in maple wood is very tight and small as opposed to oak where the grains are large and porous. Tight grains like this leave a perfect, glassy smooth finish when painted. 

In a nutshell, we choose maple wood for our child’s toy boxes for the following reasons.

• Its reliable durability
• Its loveliness
• Ability to maintain a stunning paint finish
• Reasonable price

What is a Good Size for a Toy Chest?

A good size for a kid’s toy box is 36.5L x 18W x 18H which would be considered a medium-sized chest.

This length, width, and height provide sufficient space to store your children’s toys while at the same time not taking up too much space in your child’s bedroom or your living room.

How Much Does a Toy Chest Cost?

If you are searching the web for wooden toy chest prices, you will see a wide range. Some seem a lot cheaper than others. The key is to remember that genuine, quality hardwood will cost more than cheaper alternatives such as wood veneer or plastic.

So, if you are looking for a real wooden toy chest, one that will last for generations, understand that the cost will be on the higher end.

At Amish Handcrafted, we sell our genuine wooden toy chests for approximately $565.00.

Additional features such as inscribing the word, Toys, a personalized name, or a custom-engraved nameplate can increase the price from approximately $40 to $90 dollars.

So, in a nutshell, the cost of a solid wood toy chest can range from $300 – $600 depending upon the type of hardwood and the quality of the build.

Is a Toy Chest Safe for Children?

Have you ever heard of those heart-wrenching stories of children in the past getting trapped inside a wooden chest?

Fortunately, history has learned from its mistakes. However, these sad stories still warrant your careful research to ensure that your future child’s wooden toy chest is indeed child safe.

A wooden toy box is safe for children if the wooden toy chest company clearly advertises the following:

• Includes spring loaded lid supports – These ensure that the lid closes slowly rather than slamming shut.
• Pinch Free Panel – This leaves an open space between the lid and the box so that even if the lid shuts completely little fingers never get pinched.
• Has No Lock – Never purchase a toy chest with a lock, especially one that locks automatically.
• Approved by Consumer Product Safety Commission – Be fully confident of its child safety by knowing your kid’s toy box is approved by the professionals.

When you see the above advertised, you can trust that your kid’s wooden toy box will keep your precious children safe and sound.

Your child’s safety is our top priority at Amish Handcrafted which is why all the above safety criteria apply to every one of our hand-crafted wooden toy boxes.

What Can You Store in a Storage Toy Chest?

The overly optimistic answer, almost anything!

However, you probably do not relish the image of a stuffed and overflowing toy box with “hidden treasures” of candy wrappers, half-eaten chip bags, or cookie crumbs.

Good news!

You can try to prevent that by having a good and thoughtful discussion with your children about what you CAN store inside your toy chest.

A wooden toy chest provides adequate space for storing the following toys/child play items.

• Small to medium sized toy trucks, trains, cars, etc.
• Dress up clothes
• Hard animals
• Stuffed animals
• Dolls (avoid storing glass dolls, unless it is the designated space for just the glass dolls)
• Balls
• Toy musical instruments
• Action figures
• Toy bats and mitts

You might have already noticed that Legos, fake food, train tracks, and other similar items are not on the list. The reason for that is that multiple, tiny, or smaller items can easily get lost and very disorganized inside a wooden toy box.

However, you can always store these items in containers within the kid’s toy box. Ideally, you can store almost any toys inside a wooden toy chest, just keep in mind that some toys can become more easily disorganized than others.

TOY ORGANIZATION IDEA: Depending on how many children you have and how many toys they have, it might be helpful to give each a toy box to keep their toys separate and organized from each other.

How Can I Personalize the Toy Chest?

While a wooden toy chest holds a stunning space within your home all by itself, the cherry on top for your child and you could be the personalized piece of the chest.

 The following offers you 3 ways that you can personalize a toy chest.

1. Choose your child’s favorite color from 8 different available colors (or one that matches the color scheme in your house)
2. Choose your chest’s font – Pick either Toys or your child’s name to be engraved in the front of the chest
3. Choose a custom engraved name plate – Add your child’s name, date, and occasion on a plate to be screwed into the kid’s toy box to hold the special memory forever.

Check out the colors and other personalization options here.

Surprise Your Child this Year with a Wooden Toy Chest of Their Very Own!

Just know this.

It is really you who empowers and nurtures your child’s playtime. And now with a toy box of their very own, your child can learn the gift of organization, ownership, and feeling good about their living space.

Get ready to surprise your child with a gift that lasts a lifetime of use and can be passed on for generations to come. Yes, that is the gift of a quality wooden toy chest.

Fact. You are your child’s hero. Happy playtimes await!