All I Want for Christmas is a Toy Library

Toys can be a source of stress, whether we have too many or too few. Local toy libraries offer another way!

Dec 23, 2025

“Toys Have Gotten Cheaper and it’s Making Parents Miserable” says Katie Notopoulos in Business Insider. The holidays are upon us, and with them navigating getting enough toys but not too many, making space for toys, choosing the right toys, or avoiding toys altogether. Notopoulos notes that unlike other gift categories (like say, museum passes), toys have consistently gotten cheaper, and thus more numerous. There’s no denying many toys are quickly abandoned and wasteful. So writers of parenting advice and climate activists want parents to limit the number of toys offered to children.

[image courtesy of Pexels]

Meanwhile, brands have long responded to parents’ concerns by promoting the educational value of their products, with brands like Lovevery going as far as rebranding toys as tools to “grow your newborn’s brain.” Nevermind that there is no such thing as an inherently good toy. Children can express their creativity with all sorts of objects, from the cheapest plastic figurine to the fanciest wooden construction game. Electronic toys might have a reputation for tricking children into paying them attention, but reality is a lot more nuanced. For instance, children report preferring in person to online play, yet have fewer opportunities of the former.

Essays by parents facing these dilemmas often conclude with calls for slower, more mindful, consumption. Parents who have achieved such minimalism reflect on how children revel in toys that adults hate in part because those toys are disliked by their parents. Every take on toys seems to place responsibility on parents and to ignore that where some families struggle with excess, others still struggle to afford presents. What is missing from that picture? Am I really the only parents who love toys and trying on new ones?

A Community Response: Toys Library

What could a community-based approach to issues of toys waste and excess or lack of toys look like? Toys libraries are part of the answer. As a child, I was able to borrow everything from costumes and doll houses to karts and large outdoor games, for free. Toy libraries offer a space to play, a variety of toys to try, to enjoy for a while and then return - or to borrow again. They’re both vector for equality and provide children with a feeling of abundance and choice.

Toys libraries are common in many parts of the world, but seem to struggle to thrive in the Bay Area . The San Francisco’s Children’s Council has a free toy lending library, which is closed for maintenance since October 2025 - and is still close as of December 2025. The Habitot Museum’s toy lending library closed when they lost their physical space. You’d have to go across the Bay, the Oakland Public Library, to borrow toys from an actual library to take home.

Unfortunately, all these libraries focus on age 0-6. They don’t include board games, toys for older kids or costumes. Parents organize with toys swaps, giving and picking up toys on the neighborhood chat, or by making their own libraries. But the benefits of toys libraries extend beyond access to toys, just like the benefits of libraries extends beyond access to books and media. They are places to meet, learn together, organize play-focused events, for parents and caregivers to learn from playworkers about how to support play, and more. Maybe, they’d help us as parents reconnect with the joy of toys - without the stress of clutter or of giving too much.

In the mean time, try out Game Parlour or board games cafes and clubs with your toddlers and older kids!

Neighborhood events over the holidays

Dec 15-Dec 24 at Union Square where 2 blocks are pedestrian-only: Winter walk! Light up penguins and other winter things, kid-friendly activities like toys and balloon art. You can check out Macy’s holiday window with the puppies and kittens up for adoption while you’re there.
Saturday Dec 23, 10am at 850 Valencia Street: Carols, cookies, and hot chocolate!
Saturday Dec 23, 10:30am at Glen Park Library: Toddler-made wrapping paper
Saturday Dec 30, 10:30am at Glen Park Library: Toddler ball pit
Monday Jan 1, 3-6pm at Hayes Valley Playground in the rainbow basketball court: Community skate party & resources roll-call! Skates available to borrow from toddler size 8 to adult size 9. This event happens every Monday!

There’s also story time at different libraries each day, every day except for Christmas day. And a reminder that the Botanical Garden and Japanese Tea Garden are free for SF residents if you need more places for your kids to run around until school/daycare starts back up. See also Family Swimming hours at the end of the letter!

Join the Joyful Parenting SF Meetup for more events.