Aldi wooden toys

[the7Vabo]

I have spent an unproductive day on TikTok and despite wanting to scream at the algorithm I have been subjected to multiple TikToks about the Aldi wooden toy sell-out.

If I have to see one more “those selling on Vinted have robbed poorer parents of their chance to get their child a Christmas present”, or a picture of a huge Aldi toy haul I might delete the app (which would make me more protective!)

What kind of collective consumerist madness is this?! I was in Aldi this evening (in Ireland they didn’t seem to take off here to the same extent), the toys look fine but they are clearly for v young kids, the toy kitchen looks tiny so you’d only get 3 ish years out of them max.
Personally I wouldn’t give a wooden painted toy to a child that puts things in their mouth.

I just hate it. I go into work and all the company can talk about is sustainability and how we have targets to do X & Y by 2050 to save the planet.

Meanwhile people are losing their minds over toys for kids so small they don’t know the difference.

Need a toy kitchen on a budget - Facebook Marketplace, job done.

It’s madness!!

People are also making TikTok's with same price alternatives, and there’s loads of options.

There just isn’t the need for the Aldi hysteria.
Its not 1) Aldi or 2) my 1 year old doesn’t get a first Christmas present as many on TikTok are claiming.

No small child actually needs any of this stuff and they certainly don’t need all of it.

Overconsumption of any material is bad. Aldi wooden toys are poor quality, we've had a few over the years and none were in much of a fit state to pass on to someone else (and generally toys are well looked after here). Something plastic or a well made wooden toy would probably be able to be enjoyed again and again rather than sent to landfill. Invariably the best option if possible is to buy second hand, followed by buying some okay quality and questioning whether you really need it, I suspect no child needs one of every item. It's also not sustainable when they create hype knowing there aren't enough products; fear of missing out and scarcity are all well known tactics for getting people to impulse buy aka spend more without applying a tonne of thought. I bet once the yay I got it dies down there'll be some regrets.

100%

I saw a mum saying I actually wasn’t going to get a kitchen but I went in and everyone else had one in their trolley so I got one.

I got freecycle Melissa & Doug wooden food, and they’ve held up fine and will be freecycled again once we are done. Our freecycle IKEA kitchen is also going strong and will be passed on.

I struggle to believe many people mass buying in Aldi have thought about the products ending up in landfill.

This is why the world is fecked because no one cares.

YANBU.

Went to ours yesterday to see if I could understand the hype but as usual, hardly any toys there! I don't think they've been snapped up, ours just doesn't seem to stock everything. From what I've seen on TT though, nothing I've seen would I buy. It is age appropriate for my 2 year old, but none of it appeals to me. I kinda feel bad for the kids that are getting the whole lot. It's all more of the same!

I like the Aldi and Lidl wooden stuff, we’ve had quite a few bits over the years and it has longevity, it’s all still around and DS plays with almost all of it. Not aware of any hysteria though, just give social media a rest and you won’t see it! I hate waste, luckily there are a couple of specialist baby & children’s second-hand shops in my city so I get plenty of used stuff and donate plenty too.

This is true but equally the weird scalping that seems to go on with almost everything is really grubby and horrible; that is definitely taking advantage.
the Aldi toys are decent quality (we have a couple new from previous years and a kitchen from Facebook going into its fourth year with us and still great). They’re also cheap which for many families is important.

the ‘hail’ culture is really awful too and I’m sure many of them will be unlabelled brand ambassadors.

Lots of stuff is cheap though, we are drowning in cheap stuff. A quick google search throws up many affordable options.

I feel the biggest threat to sustainability is that people just aren’t prepared to give up certain things. They will tell themselves oh but it’s Christmas/holiday/birthday/a treat etc so I/my kids need X or Y. And we have more and more occasions now eg baby showers and throw more tat at things like Halloween.

There s loads of stats about how there is way more baby & kids stuff in the world than kids.

Tiktok awash with emotional posts about how the babies of poorer parents are now missing out on Christmas is utterly ridiculous and shows how utterly consumerist we have become.

Just get off TikTok. I haven’t witnessed this behaviour in real life.

My point is less about TikTok and more about sustainability.

You have witnessed this in real life. Shopping centres are full of cheap, clothes and toys. I walk into somewhere like H&M Kids and all I can see is landfill.

Halloween is next. People have gone mad decorating their house. And Tesco etc will sell out of witches costumes even though there s probably plenty to go around already.

Small numbers of people do freecycling etc most don’t think about the environmental impact or don’t care.

I hate this too - and oh the irony, people going nuts in Aldi buying "sustainable" wooden toys when most children are happy as Larry building a toy kitchen out of Tupperware, cardboard, sticks and leaves which is actually better for imaginative play.

But all you can do is amend your own behaviour and guide your children accordingly. We hand clothes and toys down, and also use others' hand-me-downs. We talk about things like Halloween way in advance and I explain that if we plan ahead we can always find/buy/borrow/make a costume rather than order single-use shite from Amazon. We organise clothes and costume swaps and so on. I think you can have a genuine influence in your own life and with those around you. Not enough to stop the avalanche of crap but at least something.

Definitely recommend keeping an eye out for a second hand IKEA kitchen. I gave ours away when the kids outgrew it and it looked as good as the day I bought it. There’s load of tutorials on TikTok and whatnot for upcycling them and they sell on Facebook marketplace in my area for £20-30. They’re far superior in quality to the cheap ones from Aldi and Asda and the like.

The tik tok algorithm will feed you stuff that you engage with. Even if you don't comment you will be spending more time watching these clips and probably will read the comments. I get a lot of undercompsuption, buying christmas gifts for charity shop and frugal cooking clips. Don't think because you're seeing it on tiktok that it's the norm.

I get that, but also I’m looking around at friends, family, colleagues.
They aren’t buying every toy in Aldi, but they buy tons of clothes, toys and go on multiple flights a year.
Most people do the basics like dropping to charity shops, recycle bins but I really don’t think they think much beyond that i.e. that a lot of this stuff ends up in African landfill.

Its great that unconsumption or what is probably normal consumption to a lot of people trendy but it’s just not enough.

How do you define unnecessary consumerism?

You clearly were too young for the Tagamochi, cabbage patch doll and numerous other toy crazes that are moaned about every so often

I got an aldi wooden toy kitchen for dd1 when she turned 3. She's now 8. We've had 2 other children who have played with it and I often find all 3 kids playing with it. Over the years numerous kids have visited and played with it and it's still in good nick. It has a 4 burner hob, buttons that click and.a washing machine , fridge , freezer section and was proved at £90. It went to half price and I snapped it up.

There is hysteria on toktok over everything. Years ago it was the aldi nappies and now it is their wooden toys. Ours have been longlasting and in my view good quality for the price. We have a toys shop and musical instruments that are still going strong.