Best Toy Stores in Fort Collins – Beano’s Top Five

"Your local destination for Unique and Educational Toys." Learning Express is a locally owned store that specializes in learning toys. Not the lame learning toys you received from crazy Uncle Phil as a kid, but cool toys that actually help kids learn while enjoying them. Their location in the Front Range Village is great, and it has become my go-to spot for kid’s gifts. They also offer free gift wrapping, free gift registries, and free personalization of applicable gifts.

This place is fantastic; you'll often find the owner of this shop wearing a crazy hat demonstrating toys in Old Town Square. If you've never been inside, do yourself a favor and check it out. They have toys for all ages and a lot of toys you won't see anywhere else. It's small, but they pack a lot of selection inside. The only rule they have here is that toys "must demonstrate the principals of science as if by magic." The owner is more than happy to demonstrate and teach you about all the toys and it feels like he's just excited about the toys more than he is about trying to sell them to you. It’s a very fun place.

Yes, I know it's a giant chain and a lot of people can't seem to stand that, but it's an entire department store for just toys! I think you'd be hard pressed to find a kid that doesn't have their jaw drop to the floor the first time they walk into a Toys "R" Us. The sheer volume and selection of toys they have guarantees you'll be in here at least a few times if you're ever searching for a particular toy for a kid in your life. And they do a good job of staying up-to-date with what's "cool" for kids.

This place is a fairly large, eclectic shop in Old Town that has a little bit of everything; infant, children's & maternity clothing, children's & women's shoes, children's & parenting books, baby gifts, jewelry, baby carriers, diaper bags, arts & crafts, travel cribs and lots of toys for all ages. And they want your children to walk in and play with everything. They even have a Friday Morning Sing-a-long Club with donations going to the Family Center and Wednesday story times. It's definitely a little different than your average toy store.

Nature's Own is not specifically a toy store. They specialize in a lot of jewelry, gifts, fossils and minerals, but have a huge selection of science toys. The nature lover in anyone (no matter their age) can find some cool, unique stuff here. Where else could you walk out with a kid-friendly science project, a stuffed animal zebra, a quartz necklace, and a geode the size of a water cooler? There are actually four Nature's Own locations; Fort Collins, Nederland, Estes Park and Breckenridge.