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Stapelstein Mini Stepping Stones Review: We Love Them!

My daughter adores her Stapelstein stepping stones, so we just had to try the new mini version—spoiler alert: we're just as obsessed this time around.

Stapelstein Mini Stepping Stones Review: We Love Them!

Lauren Finney

Finding an enriching and engaging toddler toy that's also aesthetically pleasing for parents can feel like searching for the Holy Grail. The Stapelstein stepping stones fit the bill, providing endless open imaginative play for ages one and up. We wrote an in-depth review of Stapelstein's debut product, the Rainbow Set.

When the Original Mini Rainbow Set launched recently, we had to put it to the test. It's a great complement to the full-size stepping stones and ideal for those with smaller spaces. Here's our Staplestein mini stepping stones review.

What are Stapelstein stepping stones?

Stapelstein Rainbow Set and Original Mini Rainbow Set Lauren Finney

Stapelstein stepping stones are innovative dome-shaped toys designed to inspire creativity and promote active play. Featuring an environmentally friendly, waterproof material resembling foam, they're suitable for indoor and outdoor use, as well as in water play settings. Children can engage independently in imaginative play, sorting, games and counting with these toys.

The larger Stapelstein stepping stones can be stacked for building towers, used for jumping challenges, transformed into bowls, or repurposed in any way that sparks a child’s imagination. The mini set is a compact option, roughly half the size of the original. They're usable on the go, whether you're travelling, eating dinner out or at the playground.

Who are the Stapelstein mini stepping stones best for?

Child playing with stacked Stapelstein Original Mini Rainbow Set Stapelstein.com

Children of all ages can play with the Original Mini Rainbow Set with adult supervision. Infants can bang them together and have a sensory experience by touching them or stacking them. They have no sharp corners or edges and are water-, saliva- and UV-resistant. Toddlers will love them for sorting, counting and incorporating them into imaginative play. When you combine the original Stapelstein stepping stones with the mini versions, the possibilities are virtually endless.

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Our Stapelstein mini stepping stones review

The Stapelstein mini stepping stones required no setup. We unboxed the set and were ready to play with them immediately. My 4-year-old was delighted at the bright colours and brought them to her larger Stapelstein stepping stones. She began integrating the minis into the larger stones, first sorting the large and small of the same colour. She then laid out the larger set in a classic stepping stone pattern and put the mini set on top, declaring them her Barbie's castle.

She's since used them for everything from bowls and swimming pools for her dolls and figurines, as hats, as vehicles for collecting and carrying leaves and other nature outside, for stacking and sorting and even for playing with her infant sister. She loves to hold up the individual stones and tell her baby sister what each colour is.

Like the full-size Stapelstein stepping stones, I love that these screen-free toys keep my daughter engaged for hours. You can tell they're built to last, and I look forward to having my second daughter use them for development and play.

Final verdict

We adore our original Stapelstein stepping stones and were expecting to love the smaller set, too. But I was surprised at just how much use my 4-year-old has gotten out of the mini stones, considering we already have the larger set. I highly recommend the Original Mini Rainbow Set as a screen-free and portable option for toddler playtime.

At $99.95, the Stapelstein mini stepping stones don't come cheap—but considering the plethora of uses and hours of fun my daughter has experienced with them, they're worth the investment. Plus, they're more affordable than the full-size stones, which retail at $229.

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Pros

  • Screen-free toy
  • Aesthetically pleasing
  • Mini-size that can be taken on the go to playgrounds, restaurants, in the car and more
  • Water-, saliva- and UV-resistant
  • Useable indoors and outside
  • Made from sustainable materials

Cons

  • Pricey, but built to last through several children and ages/stages

Stapelstein Original Mini Rainbow Set - Classic

Stapelstein Original Mini Rainbow Set - Classic Merchant

Stapelstein Original Mini Rainbow Set - Pastel

Stapelstein Original Mini Rainbow Set in Pastel Merchant

Stapelstein Rainbow Set - Classic

Stapelstein Rainbow Set - Classic Merchant

Stapelstein Rainbow Set - Pastel

Stapelstein Rainbow Set - Pastel Merchant

This article was originally published on Sep 25, 2024

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Lauren Finney Harden is a seasoned magazine editor and writer deeply entrenched in lifestyle topics, especially parenting. As a mother of two young daughters, she brings firsthand experience to her work, navigating the joys and challenges of raising children in today's fast-paced world.

Lauren currently lends her expertise to renowned publications such as InStyle, Southern Living, Business Insider and Atlanta Magazine. Previously, she served as editor-in-chief for several magazines, including the launch of Lonely Planet's award-winning first North American travel magazine and 12 of Modern Luxury's regional titles, including The Atlantan.

Lauren's versatility as a writer and editor is amplified by what she called being "fluent in internet." She is the first to find trends, try them and report about them, including in the parenting realm. Her natural curiosity about child development combined with her real-life experiences in the parenting trenches allow her to craft engaging and relatable articles, reviews and social content for some of the world's most recognizable publications. 

When she's not writing or editing, Lauren can be found exploring new adventures with her two little girls, experimenting with family-friendly recipes in the kitchen or researching the latest parenting trends and products.
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