Five Seattle Toy Stores: For Kids and Adults Alike
Seattle's a city whose residents like to play, finding a haven in Seattle toy stores with specialty items from wooden toys to puzzles and games. Here are five Seattle toy stores whose wares will please the young as well as the young at heart.
Archie McPhee: With quirky to iconic proportions, Archie McPhee's is Seattle's go-to store for wares like rubber chickens, glow-in-the-dark eyeballs, Nancy Pearl action figures, pirate hats, plastic fish of any type, boxing nun puppets, glow-in-the-dark saints, and other trinketry on the cheap. Adults and children alike will revel in aisles full of plastic, cardboard and sparkly wonders, including a wall of the grossest candy possible, sugar-encased insects beside bacon-flavored gum and other treats.
The Dragon's Toybox: Located around the corner from Pike Place Market, The Dragon's Toybox is stuffed with cuddly toys, tool kits, puzzles, games and a wealth of wonders. Look for the adorable plushy robots cuddling up to the more mundane teddy bears and dinosaurs.
Izilla Toys: Locations in Capitol Hill and Wallingford serve up a stunning selection of toys along with a calendar of special events that include family picnics (at Wallingford Center), game nights, music and story times. The Capitol Hill location offers playspace, Stumptown coffee (for parents only), and pastries from the Wallingford bakery on a daily basis. On Allowance Day kids spending their own money get 15% off purchases at both stores.
Magic Mouse Toys: Peer into the cramped store in the hours before its opening, and witness a tableau staged with the denizens of Magic Mouse. Two stories are jam-packed with every kind of toy possible, including plenty of Seattle-themed souvenirs. Watch out for the hamster ball that is frequently found rolling about on the lower floor.
Westlake Woodwerk: Toymakers are hard at work (if you're there during the right hours) producing wooden toys, many of which are featured in the windows of Eurostyle Your Life next door. Based in the site that once hosted the Giving Tree, a wooden toy workshop operated by the Archdiocesan Authority, the workshop puts out elegant and durable toys whose graceful handcrafted lines will please parent as well as child. Made of ash, mahogany, maple and dark walnut, most of the toys are unpainted, allowing the wood's natural patterns to show through.
Posted on May 15, 2011 by Cat Rambo
