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27 Walmart Products That'll Make You The Fun Adult In Your Kids' Lives

27 Walmart Products That'll Make You The Fun Adult In Your Kids' Lives

Buzz Feed17-02-2025

We hope you love our recommendations! Some may have been sent as samples, but all were independently selected by our editors. Just FYI, BuzzFeed and its publishing partners may collect a share of sales and/or other compensation from the links on this page.
Bluey's dad has got nothing on you.
1. A play couch that can be anything they need it to be: a pirate ship, a fort, and a great spot for you to cuddle up and read all your favorite books to them. Start imagining together!
Walmart
2. A ride-on electric Mercedes-Benz toy car, so your favorite toddler can ride in style. Here's a sign of true love: You bought your kid a car that's nicer than yours.
Walmart
Promising review:"This is a cute and nicely designed ride-on toy. It has very nice working features, including music, a horn, and working lights. The remote control allows the adult to control the ride when the child is unable. Great value." — Paulette
3. A slime kit featuring their favorite Squishmallow characters, because anything that involves slime, glitter, and other mix-ins is a guaranteed good time, right? It's a fun sensory experience for you, too!
Walmart
Promising review:"The packaging itself is exciting! The girls loved how everything was displayed and couldn't wait to open it. The slime and decor included is great quality and it's a great activity to pass time. Highly recommended purchase." — Grkqt
Price: $14.97
4. A Furby so these kiddos can experience the same thrill of staring into those big, wide eyes and communicating with this chirpy creature. But these Furbies have had a serious glow-up — they even come with mindfulness exercises now! It's the perfect thing for you to play with together.
Walmart
Promising review:"Love this new version of Furby. My favorite features are the light show and calming sessions. The calm part is great because it takes you through breathing exercises and relaxes you. This Furby also comes with some old beloved antics." — Panda1213
5. A Nerf basketball laundry basket because laundry isn't fun but guess what? YOU are. Unleash your inner Mary Poppins and turn everyday chores into games.
Walmart
6. A Kinetic Sand set for endless hours of beach-like play but without actually needing to take a crazy family vacation. This sand sticks together, so cleanup will be as easy as a tropical breeze.
Walmart
7. A Little Tikes pretend pizza-making kit, which features ingredients made out of a reusable, moldable material — making the experience more tactile and realistic for your aspiring chefs. Playing restaurant is now easy as (pizza) pie!
Walmart
Promising review:"Super cute item! I bought it as a gift for my daughter (6 years old). Love the detail with the set and amount of accessories that come with it." — mommalovestoshop
8. A set of Stomp Rockets that are out-of-this-world fun. They get to play outside and you get to impress them with how high you can make the rocket go up. Is there anything more entertaining than kids yelling "3-2-1, blast off!" at you?
Walmart
Promising review:"This provided so much fun for the entire family...I can't believe how much time my family spent outside Christmas Eve playing with this rocket. It was a gift for my 5-year-old and his cousins (ages 6,9,14), my husband, my brother, and my dad had the most fun with this!" — EDemp
Price: $15.99
9. A Bop It!, because you were the master back in the day and you have to pass on your skills to the next gen. It's been a while since you've had "bop it, twist it, pull it" stuck in your head, hasn't it? Show them what you got.
Walmart
Promising review:"The item arrived quickly in discreet packaging. It was pretty easy to unbox and get started. After one demonstration, my kids (4 and 7) were anxious to try it out. They have played it almost every day, sometimes several times a day, ever since. We have even had family competitions, and this was such a fun, nostalgic game from my and my husband's childhood. Great way to make fun memories while helping the kids build motor and listening skills." — Lala
10. A rainbow loom bracelet-making kit, which will lead to a lot of good times with a serious side of nostalgia for you. This could keep a '90s kid occupied for HOURS and the kids in your life must learn from the best.
Walmart
Promising review:"Great for the price! Easy instructions. Comes with the mount to hold the rubber bands. My 7-year-old's new obsession!! Can bring this anywhere and everywhere. Love it has the carrying case. And when the rubber bands run out you can refill the case." — Walmart Customer
11. A dinosaur egg excavation kit with 12 eggs (and tiny dinos inside!) that will inspire a budding paleontologist — and make their boredom go extinct. This is the perfect setup for imaginative play with the two of you. You've seen Jurassic Park. You know what to do.
Walmart
Promising review:"Fun! My grandkids had an interesting time opening these dinosaur eggs. They must be cracked open outside. It can get rather sandy when digging the dinosaur out of the egg. It was well worth the time spent after opening. The dinosaur was a wonderful reward for the future archeologists!" — Laurel
12. A 37-piece set of Magna-Tiles, which will be a staple in the house for years to come. You're not just building towers together, you're building the foundation for a relationship that will change and grow over a lifetime.
Walmart
Promising review:"We purchased the Magna-Tiles for our 4-year-old grandson's birthday because our other grandchildren, ages 8–16, play with a set we keep at our house. After giving the gift to the 4-year-old, he was playing and building with them the next day." — Steve
13. A Barbie Dreamhouse Pool Party house because you'd do anything for your little doll and you will NOT hold back. Let's be real, this isn't just Barbie's Dreamhouse...it's yours, too.
Walmart
Promising review:"The coolest dream house I've ever seen. At almost 30, I'm wildly impressed and jealous of my 6-year-old. It's so neat! The attention to detail and neat traits it has — like an oven light, stovetop sounds, functional doors, toilet sound, and a whole elevator! Very cool. It's easy to put together but will take a little time just because it's a lot. Also, it's huge. Prob 3 feet high and 3 feet wide." — Charlene
14. A LeapFrog globe game with a small screen that shows videos so you can share your passion for travel with them. You're basically giving the gift of wanderlust. But also? This toy is sneakily educational, with thousands of facts about the various countries and their capitals.
Walmart
15. A Hot Wheels City Ultimate Garage playset because you know this toy has some serious staying power and will inspire the next generation of gearheads. Do you still sometimes wish you had your own set? Yes, yes you do. Buckle up for a good time!
Walmart
Promising review:"I bought this for my 5-year-old son. He loves it to death. As soon as he wakes up in the morning, he wants to play with his new toy. And then he goes to school and then when he gets home, he plays with it the rest of the day. It's been a week now. He's been playing with it every day." — David
16. A Mr. Potato Head, which is just plain silly and classic for a reason. Your favorite tater tots will sprout smiles and get a real kick out of having his hands come out of his head and his eyes where his mouth should be!
Walmart
Promising review:"Mr. Potato Head is a classic toy that never stops entertaining children. The kids love this toy. It is easy for their little hands to manipulate and change the parts. Lots of fun and laughter as they make silly faces and interchange the legs and arms or have a nose for an arm." — Jeanne
17. A 484-piece Lego Classic set with all the bricks they need to become Master Builders. It comes with an ideas book to get the ideas flowing — no Kragle needed. Ever. Everything is awesome!
Walmart
Promising review:"My 8-year-old loves this set. It is perfect for her to create different Lego designs with instructions that walk her all the way through. She's never played with Legos before this and I think it's the perfect starter pack." — Tanda
18. A 36-inch tall Bluey stuffie that brings their favorite character (real talk: and yours) off the TV and into their arms. When they see their new friend, your Bluey fan will be asking you, "for real life?!" Now, which game are you going to play first? Keepy-uppy? Hotel? Unicorse?
Walmart
Promising review:"I recently purchased the 36-inch Bluey stuffed animal, and I couldn't be happier with my purchase! This plush toy is incredibly soft and cuddly, making it perfect for hugs and snuggles. The attention to detail is impressive, capturing Bluey's cheerful expression and vibrant colors beautifully. At 36 inches tall, it's a substantial size that stands out and makes a fantastic gift for any Bluey fan. Whether for playtime adventures or simply as a comforting companion, this Bluey stuffed animal is sure to bring joy to children and adults alike. Highly recommended!" — tbsteele
19. A three-piece gardening set because going outside and getting a little dirty is THE BEST. Bonus: You get a headstart training them take on your actual yard work (when they're old enough)! Show them what to do and they'll love it.
Walmart
Promising review:"This set is the real deal. It's basically a mini version of what an adult uses. The sticks are real wood and thick. I bought this set for my nephew, who is strong and husky. These may be a little on the heavy side for a smaller child. I am very happy with the purchase. These are good quality." — SunnyCa805
Price: $16.99
20. A Clue Jr. board game, which is actually double-sided so they get two games in one. One day, you'll completely shock them with your powers of deduction in solving the murder of Mr. Boddy, but, for now, figuring out who caused mischief in the classroom will do. Is Friday night your new family game night?
Walmart
Promising review:"I bought this for my 10-, 8-, and 6-year-old twins. We all played it for over an hour (several games.) It is easy enough that one of my 6-year-olds took it to class for game day and taught his friends to play it. It can get moderately competitive, is challenging enough that the kids haven't lost interest, and they love solving a mystery. I appreciate games that can help baby-step my kids into some of my favorite board games!" — Annie5678
21. A 30-inch beginner guitar (with accessories!) so your sweet Swiftie can enter their musician era. Get ready for all the free living room shows you're about to play pretend in — friendship bracelets encouraged.
Walmart
Promising review:"This is a really nice guitar. I purchased it for my 5-year-old grandson and the first thing my daughter said was, 'this guitar is real wood' and that's one of my main reasons for buying it, so it'll last a while. I can assure you that you won't be disappointed. Oh and it comes with needed accessories." — sunshin514
22. An indoor doorway gym set that is perfect for those rainy days when the kids are quite literally climbing up the walls. Set this up and you are officially the COOLEST because you brought the playground to them.
Walmart
Promising review:"Adjustable lengths. It is strong enough for an adult and fun for toddlers. Just read the instructions on how it fits in the door jam, not the whole frame. Videos are showing set up and installation too." — Fi
23. A karaoke machine so you can impress the kids with your Mariah covers. This isn't the simple, tinny machine of your childhood — this baby has LED lights that synchronize to the music, a cradle to hold your phone or tablet to display lyrics, a USB port for the ability to record and share your performance, and professional voice effects.
Walmart
Promising review:"This thing rocks! My kids and I couldn't wait to open it. Out of the box it was super easy to set up and connect to our iPad (which fits in the cradle securely). I wasn't quite sure how the sound would compare since it's a bit smaller than our previous karaoke machine, but the sound quality is phenomenal and the light show was super fun. When not using it for karaoke, the kids are using it for an outdoor speaker while they are playing basketball. I would definitely recommend this machine for anyone looking for a great gift for their kids." — FranklinTheTanklin
24. A Radio Flyer 3-in-1 Tailgater Wagon, because you've got places to go and things to see. Put the kids in the wagon and get the good times rolling. Who wants to go get ice cream?!
Walmart
Promising review:"Bought this wagon for my 2-year-old granddaughter and her best friend when we take them to the park and such...I love it! Has shade, turns into a bench, is very lightweight, fits nicely in the trunk, two cup holders, and my favorite part is it has a folding shelf that you can use to put your cooler or whatnot on and secure it!!!! Can't go wrong with this wagon." — VeryFrequentShopper
25. A set of hand puppets so the show can go on, and on, and on. Next thing you know, they've forgotten all about their tablet, and you're helping them making scenery out of a cardboard box.
Walmart
27. A 15-piece cookie cutter set (perfect for sandwiches!) that will make you feel like one of those Pinterest-y grown-ups who spends hours making super cute lunches... and absolutely delight your kiddo every time they open their lunchbox. They might even eat something.
Walmart
Promising review:"School lunch prep success! I love the convenience of the box and I actually enjoy making cute sandwiches for my son during summer camp. This way, I can make a couple of different varieties and it's fun for him too!" — Devon
Price: $5.58
Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.

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Sharing names, turning down job opportunities that detract from marital obligations and making personal sacrifices for each other reflects selfless attitudes that make a big difference in marriage, according to the State of Our Unions Survey of 2022. After controlling for education, income and race, the survey found 'we-before-me' couples much more likely to report being 'very happy' in marriage and also more likely to say divorce is 'not at all likely' in the future than couples with a 'my own needs first' attitude. Marriages in which only one spouse takes on most of the selflessness, however, 'can run aground' according to Wilcox. The sacrifices need to be mutual. Writer Julian Adorney shares that 'my marriage to my wife works because both of us practice a sort of self-emptying love.' He goes on to critique the book,'The Value of Others,' which ultimately views marriage as a dying institution to be replaced by gig-economy relationships lasting not 'till death' but 'until this relationship no longer provides adequate value for us both.' Today, notions of sacrifice and selflessness must not only compete with transactional-economic models, but also with a plethora of demands that make up what Northwestern University Professor Eli Finkel labels today's 'All-or-Nothing Marriage.' Finkel's book by the same name explains that 21st century couples hold high expectations for a partner to 'be all things to them.' Such inflated expectations of personal gratification and self-actualization, Finkel acknowledges, create a fragile basis for lasting unions and could be considered a major force behind family instability rates. Yet the book has some blind spots. 'Something you will not find discussed anywhere in All-or-Nothing Marriage is the importance of sacrifice,' writes marriage and family professor Scott Sibley. Marriage expert Alan Hawkins emphasizes the importance of helping couples understand that there are seasons of life when most couples must live in the valleys, sacrificing some lofty ambitions to manage busy lives with children and work. Rather than working to find their highest fulfillment, he says, couples sometimes just need help to 'keep things good enough to make it through a stressful season of life together.' Demands for transcendence, wholeness, meaning, worth and communion within a single relationship, theorized Sarah K. Balstrup in an insightful study, burdens romantic relationships with a host of needs formerly satisfied through religion. Relationships, she writes, 'have become the primary mythology of the sacred in the collective tongue' of Western culture; however, mere mortals have difficulty providing the needs that religion and God formerly satisfied. Wilcox's 'Get Married' book delves into the ways religious affiliation meets the higher needs of couples while prioritizing values like selflessness, fidelity and the worth of child-raising, according to an impressive array of research and data. To summarize, church attenders are significantly happier in marriages, less likely to divorce and are more satisfied with their lives in general. Moreover, religious couples exhibit greater sexual fidelity and commitment, and higher levels of relationship quality, including greater sexual frequency and satisfaction. Not all religious couples are happy, Wilcox acknowledges, but those who regularly attend church, mosque or synagogue tap into social networks that encourage self-denial and healthy marital interaction while discouraging behaviors that derail relationships. Add to that a meaningful sense of the cosmos and rituals that help couples deal with suffering (shared prayer is a predictor of higher quality marriages), and even a good–enough marriage with family-first priorities may not need to spend 24/7 on self-actualization to reach higher levels of happiness. In the divorce drama 'Kramer vs. Kramer,' the highest-grossing film of 1979, Dustin Hoffman's character Ted, whose wife has left him, gradually trades his workaholism for a deep father-son bond forged through countless meals, chores, conversations, and a harrowing trip to the emergency room. Ted's trajectory also includes a growing selflessness born of sacrificing for another's growth. When Ted faces an uphill battle for child custody, he sits down with a legal pad one night to weigh the pros and cons of keeping Billy. As the con list lengthens with exhausting annoyances, the pro list remains vacant until Ted slips into Billy's room and holds his sleeping child. After that, Ted calls the lawyer and says he's willing to fight for custody. The intangible benefits of having kids are difficult to calculate in the short-term, day-to-day frenzy of meal-making, mess-cleaning, tantrum-throwing and adult-child boomeranging that is child-rearing. Maybe that's why society's advantages vs. disadvantages list of having kids circa 2025 looks similar to Ted's — minus the tender child-hugging that wipes out the cons in the end. Wilcox explains that, amid the divorce surges of the 1970s, fertility levels fell below the replacement rate for the first time in United States history, only to rise to replacement level until around 2009. After that came a decade of ambivalence about child-bearing that saw cultural forces of individualism, hedonism and workism take precedence over kids, who limit, says Wilcox, 'options, choices, and freedom — and force us to grow up.' The 'Childfree Life' depicted in the iconic 2013 Time cover story replete with a vacationing couple on the beach became more appealing, as did more time spent at the office building careers. Currently, childlessness has now risen to the point that 1 in 4 young women today will have no posterity. Contributing to the perception that children aren't worth it may have been a 2016 study reporting that parents are 13% less happy than their childless peers. However, 'there is only one problem with this handwringing about parenthood,' Wilcox points out. 'It no longer fits the data ... today, that is most definitely not true.' Current research backs up this reversal. Parents, especially married parents, are more likely to report their lives are more meaningful and happier than nonparents while childless Americans are more likely to report their lives are lonely and less meaningful and happy. Indeed, 'today's men and women (ages 18 to 55) in their prime who have children report the greatest happiness and the most meaning in their lives,' writes Wilcox, 'even after controlling for factors like education, race, and ages.' Wilcox refers to psychologist Paul Bloom's insightful book 'The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning' to explain the paradox of children bringing both distress and happiness into parents' lives. While too much suffering can be debilitating, too little struggle in a life of pleasure and pursuits of the self leads to meaningless and unhappiness. The ups and downs of parenthood provide opportunities for adversity and stress — along with generous doses of meaning, compassion and greater selflessness that even medical studies correlate with 'authentic-durable happiness.' While marriages tend to see a dip in happiness as they transition into parenthood and the relationship becomes more strained, a review of literature on parenting finds that 'many initial challenges encountered at the time of new parenthood are transient in nature.' Marriages that were solid before the baby inserted itself into daily life usually remain solid, even with all the new stresses and sleepless nights. (It's marriages that were struggling before the transition to parenthood that are the ones most likely to see a significant dip.) 'The fact that more than three-fourths of adults already have or want to have children should itself be evidence that something very fundamental is at work,' writes James L. McQuivey, whose review of the research finds that more than a third of Americans wish they had more children than they currently have, and that 'an astonishing 88% agree that 'having children is one of the most important things I have done.'' Clearly, not everyone wants to or can become a parent. Reasons for not having kids are deeply personal and vary widely. While some may indeed want to sit leisurely on a beach, others, like Mother Teresa, prove that parents don't corner the market on selflessness. Many young adults feel ambivalent because their financial situations are too tenuous to buy a home or support a family, and still others wanted to parent, but infertility or life circumstances interfered. Catherine Rossi's poignant essay 'Not in the (Motherhood) Club,' describes her 20s full of work, a boyfriend and energy that somehow shifted in her 30s. 'With the seven-year guy long gone, I struggled to find another,' she writes, and then 'was hit full force in the face,' as her 30s became 40s, that 'there was a club.' Motherhood. And she would never be in it, feeling ostracized as everyone's lives began and continued to revolve around their children. No one should be stereotyped as selfish or feel ostracized for not having children, but a societal narrative that 'all parents are miserable' is not only untrue, but dissuades young adults from participating in what many find the most rewarding part of life. George Bailey. What a life. First the longed for dream of travel and Europe postponed, actually demolished, to salvage the family business and keep Bedford Falls from falling prey to Mr. Potter's evil machinations. Then marriage to Mary followed by multiple children — further imploding dreams of architecture, explorations and making it big. No wonder George questions, at a desperate juncture, whether his life is worth anything in Frank Capra's film classic 'It's a Wonderful Life,' as all his selflessness seems for naught. One of today's influencers might call George miserable, living in hell. It takes a hapless angel named Clarence to give George a vision of what his family and friends' lives would be like without his altruism (spoiler alert: pretty terrible). The movie ends with George surrounded by a grateful wife and thankful kids, relatives and a household full of friends. Mr. Potter, with money and power to make every wish come true, comes off as the truly miserable one compared to George's wonderful life. Maybe family-first, we-before-me selflessness offers its own angelic perspective during the desperate junctures of marriage and child-rearing, removing us from near-sighted annoyances and heartaches to give us the long view that sacrifices are worth it, and that hard times can bring out the best in us. Writer-surgeon Richard Selzer (1928-2016) was particularly adept at taking miserable medical situations and reframing them through the ennobling actions of a selfless spouse. In Selzer's essay 'Tube Feeding,' a husband tenderly ministers to a wife with an inoperable brain tumor, unable to eat. He devotedly carries out his daily duty when the feeding tube suddenly dislodges, so he nervously scrambles to reattach the tube, a nauseating process. Not wanting his wife to sense his distress, the husband discreetly hurries to a bathroom where she hears him throwing up. In another Selzer essay, he must cut a small nerve to remove the tumor in a woman's cheek — leaving the young wife with a twisted, clownish mouth. As Selzer encounters his patient and her husband back in her hospital room, he asks himself, 'Who are they? ... He and this wry mouth I have made, who gaze at each other so generously, greedily?' 'Will my mouth always be like this?' she asks, and Selzer replies yes, 'because the nerve was cut.' The wife remains silent, but the husband smiles and says, 'I like it ... it is kind of cute.' 'All at once I know who he is,' Selzer continues. 'I understand and I lower my gaze. One is not bold in an encounter with a god. Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth and I am so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers, to show her that their kiss still works.' This article is the fourth of a series on the future of marriage in America.

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