All About Carvelli
I'm Carvelli, father of two — Havana and Biagio, two and four. Most of this store started because I was trying to buy things for them.
The problem wasn't finding toys. The problem is that there are too many, and most of them don't say much about what a kid actually gets from them. A two year-old and a four-year-old need almost nothing in common; one's still figuring out colours and shapes, the other's heading toward kindergarten, and I kept noticing there wasn't one place that covered that whole stretch without a wall of noise in between.
So I started putting one together. Early learning toys first, since that's where Havana is right now. Kindergarten prep next, for where Biagio's headed. From there it grew into writing and tracing tools, puzzles, dance props, Orff instruments — the kind of categories that actually show up in a kid's first few years, not just whatever happened to be easy to source.
The filter is simple, even if it's not scientific: would I hand this to Havana or Biagio? If something feels like it's there to fill a page, it doesn't make the cut.
Most of what ends up in this store, I'm already using at home. Not because it's research — because I want Havana and Biagio curious about things, not just entertained by them. There's a difference between a toy that keeps a kid quiet for ten minutes and one that makes them ask a question they didn't have before. I'm aiming for the second kind, as often as I can manage it.
The collection is still growing. I'm adding categories one at a time instead of all at once, because I'd rather get each one right than rush it out.
Thanks for stopping by. More is coming soon.