Looks lovely, but as for "how to properly raise a child," toys should be for the child and not the parent. And that means toys that are sometimes not educational and design-y and oh-so-hip. Most kids, if you ask them to choose between Elmo and Eames...well, I'll leave it up to you to guess which one they'd go for. (Hint: "Eames' World" never took off on PBS.)

Yo Alice, it depends on how much TV the kid watches. Does the parents situate the kid in front of the TV most of the time? Kid will want Elmo, not Eames.

Yo, Joss. No it doesn't.

Anyway, my point is that toys are for children, not accessories for the home. Believe me, I wish my 2-year-old preferred understated "educational items" over enormous plastic Tonka trucks. Tonka trucks do not work with mid-century modern.

avoiding the child-rearing debate here, I'll just say there's another sleek yet fun children's store just opened on Avenue A between 2nd and 3rd Streets-- Sons + Daughters. Prices a little high but no one can enter budget fray with BabyGap and Ikea and Toys 'r Us hogging the market. The merchandise is thoughtfully selected, design-minded (without being aimed solely at the parents) and completely tempting. Check it out.

Hmmmm. Seems to me that if you mistake "utterly unaffordable" for "well designed" then this place is for you.

Strictly for the show-off set with their bugaboos. If your offspring are fashion accessories first and kids second, you have found heaven.

Back to joss
Clearly still in fantasy parentland.
Please review comment about TV and Elmo when you actually have kids.

FYI, Elmo and Sesame Street have done a lot more for the children of this world than the posh European toy designers have. Compassion, tolerance, and self-esteem are much harder to teach than modern architecture.

That said, I love educational toys, but these prices are outrageous! $150 for a set of blocks? My children can entertain themselves for weeks with a $5 laundry basket from Wal-Mart. Children are so creative they can make toys and games out of anything. They don't need expensive minmalist toys to develop their interests.

The Bilibo did win me over though. I may spring for a couple of those this Christmas.

What about Kid's Supply @ 94th and Madison! No toys, just hip, good quality beds, desks, trundles, cribs, fabrics and more. Pat

i have a 17-month old who does not like elmo or television in general (unless there is a truck commercial on). his preferred bath toy is 1 or 2 measuring cups.

elmo and eames aren't the only choices.

i'm very into finding cheap toys that my son can engage with, and have been pretty successful at it, but i don't see anything wrong with buying (if you can afford it) expensive, beautiful, and hip toys that the adults can enjoy too (assuming the kid is into it). both have to live with the stuff! and the kid will not be wronged by it.

I've never understood the beauty of the $60 t-shirt for a 3month old or the $90 bootie. I don't care what name is on the label.

Waddaya mean, children's toys can't also be effective accessories?

The stacking cylinder thingies displayed in our living room aren't an "office toy" -- they're the nesting blocks I used as a baby.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35684487@N00/236025518/

Mod toys appeared at the Montgomery Ward's price point back then. (Not that I have anything against people spending more if they have it.)

I have gone into Kid O many times and always come out empty handed and dissapointed. Seems like the kind of place to shop when you have no kids and are looking for a baby gift. So many downtown stores are SO expensive (the Yoya chain, Disco Lemonade, and that British store next to Tea and Sympathy that has very cute, hip, $35 t-shirts for infants.)

I'm pretty sure the majority of these types of stores exist for a) people who have money to burn and b) people buying gifts. I don't really understand why people get so pissed when they think something is overpriced. Just don't buy it.

I don't get this one:
"Owned by Lisa Mahar, Kid-O is as much an expression of how to properly raise a child as it is a store."

Can someone explain?

Okay, I don't have kids, but I have to buy a lot of gifts for kids because everyone I know has been giving birth the last few years. And I've gone to this place quite a few times hoping to find something but, like NB, have come out empty-handed. The prices really are way out of my reach. And what do lovely but overpriced toys have to do with "how to properly raise a child"?

I've had much better luck with these two places, both within a stone's throw of Kid-O. Granted, they are in a completely different category and they may be pleasantly cluttered instead of beautifully spare, but they're chock-full of educational, reasonably priced toys:

Kidding Around, 15th St between 5th & 6th
Gepetto's Toy Box, Christopher Street (near Waverly?)

or, more to the point, what do mini bertoia chairs have to do with "how to properly raise a child"? if this was a shop devoted to genuinely fun and educational toys that crossed gender lines, unique solutions to the problems inherent in kids' design, "green" and/or locally handcrafted baby items, etc, i would be all about it. but it looks like the same ole same ole, just prettier and with a bigger price tag. blue and blocks for boys. flowers and kid-sized cleaning tools for girls. blech.

Sons & Daughters is really cute, actually. and they carry vintage/secondhand baby and toddler clothes, which i think is a brilliant idea. they also specialize in montessori/waldorf toys, cool crafting supplies, handmade stuff, etc. it's probably more expensive than Babies R Us, but at least it seems like you're actually getting something out of the price point.

wow, this was just a post about one store in new york that has stylish presentation and well designed products. but the reactions above are quite extreme. you don't have to shop exclusively at kid o can't junior have elmo sitting in a mini bertoia chair? stop thinking so black and white and judging so harshly; maybe someone will buy your little one a gift from kid o.

Opinions abound. And here is mine: I think those who get frustrated at the detours the threads can sometimes take, are looking at this all wrong.

This website needs participants and the more opinionated they are the more action takes place. You can't ask opinionated people to only stick to one subject - because it won't happen.

If you want opinionated people on this site then it seems to me you're going to have to love them as they are. And that's my opinion on that :)

I looked at KidO website. It's very expensive, I agree with the comment above, it's not for parents, it's more for people who don't have children and need to buy an expensive gift. I suggest to check www.childrensplace.com for wooden toys. For example KidO has "montessori multi-shape puzzle set $90.00",$90!!. Childrensplace had the same one last spring for around $9

"Most kids, if you ask them to choose between Elmo and Eames...well, I'll leave it up to you to guess which one they'd go for."

Why would you give a child the choice?

Surely the whole point of being a parent is to teach your child - and that includes teaching them about good design and appreciation for quality - to give them an open-ended choice of something good and something crap is not teaching them anything - (I'm not saying either item above is good or crap - they were just used as the examples above) - if you give your child plastic tonka trucks thats what they'll play with - if you give them beautiful quality toys then thats what they will play with

In the UK we have been talking about childrens choices a lot lately with the whole school meals revolution currently going on - for years children have been given the choice and have chosen the junk food and are bearing the heavy costs of this through bad health - we are now trying to get back to the "tell a child what its going to have" rather than asking what it wants approach - its a parents responsibility to give a child what is best for it, not necessarily what it wants

Nothing to do with this shop however...

Actually there is a lot of misinformation here. The Montessori products that are compared--the $9 puzzle to the $90 dollar version that Kid O sells for example are not the same, not even close. One is produced by Nienhuis, the company that Maria Montessori herself started and the other is a cheap knock-off probably produced with child labor.

Anyone that perceives this store as being solely about design and what parents like, doesn't really know it. Kid O is packed with the most important educational materials ever created--from Froebel's gifts, to the authentic Montessori materials (used in schools around the world for 100 years), and an assortment of terrific Reggio materials. You'd be hard-pressed to find better educational products anywhere outside of a school.

Also I bet the people that actually shop at Kid O spend less on toys overall that people that buy tons of disposible stuff that ceases to entertain and probably breaks after about 5 minutes. When you buy thoughtful, well-made, stimulating toys you don't need a lot and they last for generations.

If you have never set foot in Kid O, I wouldn't rush to post your negative comments about pricing or quality. I would caution you, especially if you have children, to come in and see what the store has to offer before passing any harsh judgements on what Kid O sells or what they stand for.

There are many items in the store under $20 and under $10 that are more stimulating than any toys you could find at Toys-R-Us or any other chain for that matter. Everyobody's budget is different, but Kid O's toys range from 1.50-thousands so I think they have you covered, whatever your fancy is.

All I know is there's something to be said for educational toys made of natural materials that will last your childs lifetime versus plastic disposable passing trends. And if Kid O charges an extra few dollars to sell those quality items, keep in mind that they are 1 store surviving in NYC, not a chain or a coorporation. But if their cost is too high for you, then its completely your discretion whether you want to support buying those quality items for your children or to continue to buy them whatever is most popular on television or on their favorite computer game this week.

There's a reason teachers from all over the city shop here for their clasrooms in which your children may attend every single day.

And all I reccomend is that you give it a try before you pass your judgement, because like somebody already said... somebody might be buying your child something from Kid O as we speak...

I'm sure that Kid-O is a wonderful store for children but my budget would not have allowed it. I was a single mother and my 2 children grew up in front of the T.V. They were latch-key kids. Sesame Street, Ren & Stimpy, The Simpsons you name it. They played with dolls, super heroes, trucks, yo-yo's, etc. Both of my children graduated from college. My son is a Surgeon and my daughter is a Psychologist and I am very proud of them. I guess raising your children in front of the T.V isn't bad after all!

Oh and by the way, I shopped at Toys R Us frequently too!

I can't begin to imagine how difficult it is to be a single mom. It's great that this woman's kids turned out so well, but that doesn't mean that raising ones children on cartoons and market driven toys is a good idea. It's also a fallacy that challenging, fun, intelligent toys have to be expensive. Some are (as are many not so intelligent toys), but Kid O has lots of things under $25, all infinitely more respectful of a child's intelligence than anything you can find at Toys R' Us. Plus the staff is really knowledgeable.