In early 2021, Darryl and April became the proud owners of Kindness & Joy Toys and quickly fell in love with the shop. “We are very thankful for our corporate careers, but we were hoping to find a business that would allow us to have more direct community involvement. We feel so blessed because many of our customers truly feel like family,” says April. “We also love seeing relationships develop between our customers. Every Friday, the store offers free Story Times, where children gather in the shop’s Play Lab for songs, a story reading, games, crafts, and playtime. We’ve had so many friendships develop during these Story Times, not just between the children, but between the moms as well. When we hear families exchanging contact information or planning play dates, it makes us so happy... Seeing those relationships form in the community is part of why we did this.”
“One of the biggest compliments we get is someone coming in and saying, ‘Thank you for providing this in our community,” says Darryl.
Kindness & Joy Toys’ Birthday Buckets make for the perfect birthday activity. 2-3 weeks before a kid’s birthday, they come in and fill a bucket with items they want. Kindness & Joy Toys then registers the selections online like a baby or wedding registry. The bucket is kept on the shop’s Birthday Bucket wall so that shoppers can either shop the online registry or shop directly in-store. Kids can also build their Christmas wish list buckets before the holidays. Kindness & Joy Toys beautifully wraps every gift purchase for free.
“Darryl and I came from humble beginnings,” says April. “We both were raised by very hard-working parents, but neither of us grew up with expensive toys. It’s important to us that we provide toys that every family can afford.”
Kindness & Joy Toys offers many programs and events. They just completed one of their favorite annual programs, Planet Kindergarten, where your upcoming kindergartener learns what to expect from sessions led by local teachers. They read a book called Planet Kindergarten, answer any questions the kids (or parents) have about kindergarten, do a craft, take pictures, and receive a Planet Kindergarten t-shirt that includes their high school graduation year. April says, “It has become a shop tradition, and we love it.”
Other favorites are camps like Critter Camp and Taylor Swift Camp, and seasonal events like Shop with Santa. One of Kindness & Joy Toy’s newest additions is a Stuffy Sleepover. Kids bring their favorite stuffed animal, and, after several activities, leave their stuffies overnight. In the morning, they return to a photo album of their stuffy doing crazy things around the store.
April and Darryl value the chance to give back to the community. They are involved with Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Potter’s House toy drives plus other fundraising events throughout the year. April says, “Our customers always show up big for these annual toy drives, and we know their support of our little local shop is what allows us to give back. We feel so blessed to live in Northwest Arkansas and be a part of a community that supports one another.”
For more information on Kindness & Joy Toys, visit kindnessandjoytoys.com and check out the online calendar for upcoming events.