Brookside Toy & Science

I have to say that these people need 18 stars. They have always been around, a local business, and always have the most amazing stuff. I’ve been around since 1954, and I have always treasured this place.

This is both my daughter’s and my favorite store to visit together.
If you’d told me years ago that I was going to raise a little girl that would pick out precious stones to collect, preserved butterflies, tarantulas, and beetles and science books instead of baby dolls and Barbies, I would’ve scoffed. But it’s happening with my toddler… and partially because of this place.
Staff is friendly and sweet. Helpful when shopping for age ranges I’m not yet familiar with. This place is unique and I hope it sticks around for a long time. I can’t wait to see this little one grow up and come old enough to play with some of the more advanced toys and science things they sell.
Bottom line: The way she lights up and interacts verbally with me and with the really fascinating stuff they sell here is all the testimonial anyone could ever need for how spectacularly cool this place is for kids and adults alike.

Brookside Toy & Science is everything a modern store should be. Sadly though, modern stores have let us down. Today’s stores are replete with vast square footage of products that manufacturers and retailers want us to buy, void of thoughtful selections the purveyors have carefully selected.
On the completely opposite end of the spectrum is Brookside Toy & Science, and stores like them. Stores that, sure, aren’t 10,000 square foot, but that offer items that have been individually chosen to be offered for sale based on the customers the owners have come to know.
I’ve not bought something every time I visit Brookside Toy & Science but I definitely have to stay focused on what I am looking for. There’s not 20 kinds of everything but there’s something for everyone.

Brookside Toy & Science is always on my list for kid birthday and Christmas shopping. Its a great place, and I love that they have some really unique toys that you won’t find in the big chain stores. Plus they GIFT WRAP!

Got a kid? Know anybody that has a kid? Ever SEEN a kid? Then you need to check this place out! With a fun environment, unique and well curated collection and helpful staff, they more than earn their 5 stars.
While I don’t have kids myself, I do have a niece and a nephew that I like to spoil whenever possible, and when birthdays or holidays come up, Brookside Toy and Science is always one of my first stops. Every square inch of this shop is packed with fun and appropriate toys for the kiddos. I don’t think this is a place to go to find the latest plastic Power Ranger (I mean, kids still play with those… right?) but rather high quality toys that are well crafted and encourage learning and creativity. From games to building sets to a massive collection of puppets, they really do have something for most every kid.
The back of the store is where the «Science» part of the name comes to life. All sorts of science-​experiment kits are available, and this is a great place to let your kids browse and just absorb their interesting collection of oddities. Make sure and look up, as all around the ceiling are interesting sites, as well.
Prices aren’t cheap, but then again neither are these toys. They’ll last and your kids will like them. Definitely as good as it gets.

I don’t go to Brookside without stepping into Brookside Toy & Science, even if just for a couple minutes. I don’t go because I need anything. I go for the memories.
This is the way retail in America was before Sam Walton ruined it. Stepping through the door of BT&S is stepping back into 1960. I’m a kid again with 50 cents burning a hole in my pocket, but it’ll take an hour at least to spend it. The aisles teem with toys, whatnots, gizmos and thingamajigs that no kid can resist. Bugs, snakes and sharks in jars. Legos and Lincoln Logs. Wooden cars and trains. Gyroscopes and telescopes. Models of ships, planes and V-​8s. Metal soldiers going to war. Xylophones and kazoos. Blocks and stuffed bears. Ages 1 to 101.
But the best thing? The owners and the people who work there. .. hands down. You’ll be greeted within two seconds of coming through the door. They know everything about everything they sell, and they’ll take the time to make sure you’re getting just what you need. After a trip to BT&S you feel like you’ve made new friends. .. and you have!
For Christmas and birthdays, they wrap. Can you believe it?
And as a previous reviewer noted, they charge the same price as the big boxers for the same items.
But, what I like most is the BT&S sense of humor. Last Christmas I carried home the grandkids presents in bags that read, «Brookside Toy & Science — Kansas City — New York — London — Paris.»
Brookside Toy & Science. .. go be a kid again!

Gosh I love this store! This place has a little bit of everything for all ages. I usually hit it up every christmas because I can get stocking stuffers in addition to gifts for my kids and all my neices and nephews. These are good quality, lots of wood options, lots of science related kits.
Magnets, erector sets, geology, biology. This places is packed full of fun.
At christmas — despite the craziness they will even gift wrap your gifts for you. The owners are super nice and if they are out of a toy you want, they’ll call you when it gets back in stock.
Love Love Love Brookside toy and science!

Such a good store!!! Super cool toys and science equipment. microscopes, beakers, test tubes, and .01g accurate pocket scales.

This is a store that makes shopping fun for even people who generally despise shopping. Half the people I see in Brookside Toy & Science are not people who are kids/​buying for kids. They are grown-​ass people who are drawn by the irresistible lure of, say, a rubber unicorn-​head mask, a stuffed narwhal, kits that let kids create their own solar prints or soaps, a wooden croquet set, and, yeah, a puma sitting high up on a shelf above everything, and I don’t mean the kind of puma you put on your feet and look all hipster.
Stuffed to the gills with toys both silly and educational, as well as things that are, well, both stuffed and have gills (there is a whole taxidermied menagerie looking down from above on shelves that span the perimeter of the store), this place is fantastic. You can find name-​brand, quality toys for comparable prices you would in any boring old chain store, a wealth of games, crafting accoutrements, and the kind of stuff one used to see in the back pages of comic books… Sea Monkeys? Yes, please! Sneezing powder? Count me in! I know that once spring hits, and I wanna be flying a kite on the front lawn of the Nelson, Brookside Toy & Science is where I’ll go to find one. Brookside Toy & Science is a charmer… sure to pick even the most Scrooge-​liest Scrooge’s day up.

Listen up folks, this thing is put in the $$$ price range because it has things worth $$$; but the reality is you’ll pay the same price for Marvels action figures and Legos here as you would at Target. No difference. The fact that this place HAS so much more to offer, from affordable microscopes (about the same prices I’ve seen on amazon) to $ 10,000 aliens in a jar is alright by me, makes for a much better experience. BST&S has it all and I strongly encourage you to stop here for your holiday shopping for the kid in you and in your family.

My 7 year old and I strolled in here a few weekends ago, and honestly I thought it was going to be like another walk down the Target toy aisle-​however, we were both pleasantly surprised that it was quite the opposite! Holy cool toys everywhere! Tons of cool stuff you would never see in Target or Toys R Us, and there is a bunch of taxidermy stuff in the back. My daughter loves spiders (yeah, I don’t get it either), so that just made her day. If I ever played the lottery, and won, I would clean out this place!

Daughter #1 is making every effort possible to make this Christmas a «buy locally/​not at chain stores» affair. It’s an admirable sentiment and I agree: Put the money into our local economy! So we made Wednesday our day to shop at Brookside Toy & Science. We had a wonderful… if slightly frustrating… time. Let me tell you about the «Wonderful» first. This charming store is filled to the brim with some of the nicest, cutest, best crafted and most desirable toys that an Elf could ever imagine. There are lots of selections for nearly every age group from tiny baby to teen and there are, in the Science department, items that many adults on your list would love as well.
Here is the «frustrating» part though: Hundreds of these ‘must-​have’ toys are marked «made in China». I AM NOT INFERRING that any of these toys are not safe to present to any child you love. I fully believe that Brookside Toy can be trusted to have done their due diligence in certifying their safety both in construction and in not containing any toxic substances. MY CONCERN is more in a compelling conviction that the U. S. is sending too much of our ‘treasure’ to other nations. So I made it my mission to hunt and read the labels before buying. I read a great many labels before I found a green company that makes very sturdy items right here in the U.S. from recycled plastic bottles. Two of my great grandsons will be getting items from their line of toddler toys.
I know that no one individual can change the world in which we live with just one act. But every time that I can do one deed such as this, I have made an effort towards change. Call it my personal «grain of sand». If everyone just chips away at this as often as possible, maybe we can fill at least a sand box full. And that’s a start.
Sorry for the soap box moment. What I really want to emphasis in this review is that Brookside Toy & Science is a really nice shop with lots of marvelous, quality merchandise where you can find nifty items for any of the «Kids» on your list and they offer complimentary gift wrap. The staff is friendly, helpful and very efficient. Dear Daughter & I had a really great afternoon! I bet you will too!

I was looking for a birthday gift for my 10 year old sister. Of course she is at the age where she is still a little girl but also turning into a teenager.
She is the classic tomboy who likes sports and video games, movies, electronics, etc. In no way was I going to spend $ 200 on a Nintendo DS so I popped into Brookside Toy for some ideas.
I was impressed with their selection of games, baby toys, fossils, science experiments, and geodes. However, the selection for her age, 10, wasn’t what I was looking for. They had a ‘girl’ section filled with make your own clay beads, paint a piggy bank, and crafty things like that. I know my sister would hate those things, so I had to move on.
I bought some little prank joke items like the hand buzzer, fake poo, and card tricks as I knew she would enjoy joking with her friends. I also bought a cool grow-​your-​own-​crystal kit. For everything, I spent about $ 18 with tax. Not bad at all, but I did have to go get another gift at the dreaded Wal-​Mart. Hopefully, the pranks will get some laughs and make someone scream.

When Joi B was a child, she was quite possibly… a bit… shall we say, odd… no, not odd! Let’s say unique! It’s even better than special.
For example, she was obsessed with bugs. She’d collect them in various containers. Sometimes she’d even bury them alive and dig them up later (fun with catepillars!) This wasn’t very humane of her, she does know this now.
She was also obsessed with birds and would read scientific books about them. She loved her pet parakeet so much, when he died, her mom allowed to let her have him stuffed so that she could have him forever.
(Don’t believe it? Look in the profile pics).
Perhaps if there were a Brookside Toy & Science in her town, things would be different. She’d have access to the right tools so that she might learn about the wonderful world of insects instead of conducting cruel experiments on her own, or having a beloved pet stuffed and then rendered unrecognizable thereby causing her to go into a deep depression at the age of 10. Who knows, right?
(Step out of the confession box and into 2011, already!)
I love Brookside Toy & Science for getting that all kids are not created equal. The best ones turn and embrace the strange. They just may need some encouragement and/​or help. All that taxidermy and stuff in the cases, just further down the aisle from the Playmobiles and princess dresses? Brilliant. Who owns this store? Is it me and I don’t realize it yet?
Brookside Toy & Science appeals to that slightly strange, but well-​meaning kid who may not be into Barbie (lies. I loved Barbie,. And I had a Cher doll, too) or toy trucks and Legos. It also appeals to the kids who love the aforementioned more conventional toys, because this is all there, too, along with unique art supplies and starter kits, stuffed animals, books, Sea Monkeys and Magic Rocks.

«Daddy, look at that giant snake!»
Yes, there was a giant snake. And dead sharks in jars. Tons of bugs in acrylic blocks, some of which were so incredibly monsterous that even I was a tad disturbed (but always intrigued!). Oh, and «Hello, Kitty» stuff.
Playmobil and Lego were there, too, taking up an entire wall, games filling the opposite side of the store, a whole row of creative arts & crafts supplies, Ugly Dolls, baby toys, laboratory beakers and burners, and yes, even a couple of vintage guitars.
The kids and I spent almost an hour in here just looking at all the stuff. Part shopping experience, part museum of curiosities, the taxidermy and toys combination of this intimate little shop is worth just the browsing opportunity.
Now, having this little magic emporium smack dab in the middle of Brookside might give the impression that this place may be a bit pricey, but it’s not. In fact, I was surprised to see that stuff that I would have shopped for at The Toy Store in Lawrence was actually cheaper, even if the selection is a tad smaller.
Still, with a very helpful staff and a great atmosphere encouraging both play and learning, it’s great to have this place as an alternative to any big-​box toy store. Another win for the little guys, and a place I’m glad to spend my kid-​related dollars.

For the size of the space (not huge, but not tiny) they pack in A LOT to look at. You can find a little bit of everything for all age groups. They have a particularly nice array of board games, and various kinds of kits (make your own soda, jewelry, slime, perfume, etc.) They also stock a fair amount of eco-​friendly toys.
I have only ever shopped here for toys, but I love looking at all of the science stuff in back. They definitely have some instruments for budding scientists or for more experienced ones.
Prices are definitely higher than say Target or chain toy stores, but if you shop here you are supporting a unique, local business. Also, they have employees that actually talk with you about various options, offer suggestions, and will even gift wrap your purchases for free!

I LOVE this store. Even though it is technically a toy store, which means it is technically for children, I love coming in here and looking at all the awesome stuff they have. It makes me want to be a kid again!
Besides toys, they also have their share of science items, if you look at the pictures. There are a lot of bugs and taxidermied (?) animals, along with supplies for science experiments, whether for school or just on your own. This store really brings out the scientist in every kid!
The employees are self-​described ‘toy experts’ and they are a great help if you are looking for a gift or need something specific. You can tell that they really enjoy their job.
In case you can’t make it down to the actual store, they also have an online catalog
where you can shop, make a wish list, purchase items online.

Does anything else in this city capture the child’s mind quite so readily as Brookside Toy and Science? NO. As a kid, my parents could have left me here all day, and I wouldn’t have even asked where they had gone, I wouldn’t have wandered off — it would have been like free babysitting — I would have been good just to wander and play around all day alone and safe.
But they didn’t do this and I never spent TOO much time in here as a kid, so that whenever I did make the trip it was more of a treat. I can remember the excitement still, walking in with that same smell, the bell ringing on the door, the staff busy ringing people up, the toys sprouting from what seemed like the walls itself — it was a child’s dream land.
I ran straight back to the Barbie’s — for being a small shop, they always carried the latest and greatest in the Barbie line (I think the owner was quick not to discount his little girl to little boy ratio.) They also carried Polly Pockets (my personal favorite, and a generational difference as a kid in the early nineties — they were the size of a dime back then.)
Somehow, I’d be drawn back to the museum of bugs and amphibians and pigs in jars in the back of the store on display behind the glass counter — it is really an incredible store — genius, to provide the kind of diverse display unknown anywhere else in the city to children, of toys and of science, blending so well — I couldn’t ignore one for the other in my visits made over the years.
As I got older, around middle school, it is BT&S that I owe my Science Fair ribbons to — I owe them my experiences of getting to take my projects to city hall to compete. I purchased all of my petri dishes here, where I collected the bacteria that won me the blue first prize. I’m positive many children in Kansas City either were inspired here with their own science fair projects or at least purchased the necessary equipment here to perform their experiments.
Overall, I am grateful it has been around all of my life, and knowingly in the future lives of my own children (I just might be a bad mom and drop them off here all day… I know they won’t hate me for it!)

I’ll say this, «I don’t want to encounter a fruit bat. Those things look mean.»
Brookside Toy & Science not only offers up some creepy ways or animals to decorate a room, but has some killer toys as well.
Back to the creepy. I’m not quite sure how to feel about the back half of this shop. Educational-​you bet. A place for kids or animal loving humans-​perhaps not. Is it just me or did I just visit Ted Nugent’s hunting shack? Bats, skulls, and full-​on wolverine and alligator hides make for nothing short of visiting my local taxidermist. A little too much for being a Toy & Science shop. And really, who’s gonna drop a $ 150 on a bat behind glass? I see the need for schools and science guys but it just gave a weird vibe sitting across from PlayMobil and Legos. Who knew?
On the flip side, the shop offers some great toys and gadgetry that just can’t be replicated. There’s a nice assortment of games too; so us adults might find a purchase for ourselves. Sorry if I offend any of you who still play with Britain Toy Soldiers. You’ll find those there.
Craziest item has to be the real-​life stuffed armadillo dressed up as a Sheriff with two six-​shooters on his hips. Prepare for wackyville and higher prices when you walk through the door.

If you buy Christmas and birthday presents for the same child year after year, you sometimes need inspiration to find something new and different. Brookside Toy & Science can provide it. The store’s a refreshing alternative to discount store toy departments with the same mainstream brands, and a great source for educational toys.
For me, the best part of Brookside Toy is all the gee-​gaws and thingamajigs at the front of the store. There’s stocking stuffers galore, brain puzzles, wind-​up creatures and every little gizmo under the sun. If you pick out toys here for a niece or nephew, you’ll earn major cool points. And if you find some last minute things for your own child, don’t be surprised if these little treasures capture their attention more than the high-​dollar presents.