These toy tool kits for kids by Green Toys seem to tick all the boxes that make them a perfect set of toy tools.

1. Gender friendly colors – Blue Tools, Pink Tools.
2. Made in the USA
3. Made from recycled plastics
4. Name of the tool written on it to promote reading
5. Dishwasher safe
6. Eco friendly packaging

These toys seem well made and with good intentions. Great for modeling what Mom or Dad are doing in the workshop.

Part of workshop time is learning skills, and part, I’m afraid, is a bit like dress-up. Kids like to imitate us. They like to do what we are doing and wear what we are wearing. Of course, my tool belt even partially loaded will not fit my child’s waist. It immediately falls down. He wants to wear it so badly that he ends up holding it up with both hands. After a few minutes it becomes a safety concern. One I fear for his safety as he has no free hands to protect himself, and two I fear for my tools that keep falling to the floor on a toolbelt that won’t stay up.

There are a bunch of toy tool belts but I prefer one of these which are a bit more serious.

I am a fan of getting kids real tools (when safety allows) and I am also a proponent of getting kids toy tools. I keep the real tools in the shop for them to use when in the shop, and the toy tools in the house so they can play and pretend without fear of ruining the furniture. As an interesting twist to the imagination, a toy workshop model. Playmobile has a woodshop that as far as I can tell goes along with a “school” series. However there is nothing in the set that would prevent it from being a pretend, home workshop.

Available from Amazon: Playmobile Workshop 4326

I’ve already covered some tips for getting kid sized real tool sets, however sometimes you need to provide toy tool sets.  There are a few limiting factors that may cause you to choose toy tools instead of or in addition to real tools

• Kids are too young for certain tools
• You need a set of play tools that are furniture safe so kids can play with them in places where real tools would not be appropriate like in the car, in the living room, at grandma’s house…
• Kids need time to PLAY, when they aren’t being watched with eagle eyes and told, no hammering with the screwdriver, no running with the saw, don’t put that drill in your mouth…

There are a lot of toy tool sets to choose from.  Some are more realistic than others.  I have found that the ones that look more realistic don’t hold up as well, and also create some confusion over what is real and what is a toy.  If it’s a toy, they can PLAY, if it is not a toy, they can’t – or shouldn’t.  I like to make the distinction between toy and real to be clear.

• There are toy tool sets from Home Depot
• Toy tools  from Craftsman
• Environmentally friendly and recycled plastic toy tools
• And chunky wooden tool sets

And of course if you don’t want to buy them, here is a great example of toy tools you can make for or with your kids.