MilSpouse Life
Inside this post: These are my ALL-TIME favorite army toys for kids! Especially great for military kids who want to role play. These kids’ military toys inspire creativity.
We were having lunch on Saturday morning when my son stepped onto the balcony and shrieked, “Daddy’s home!”
My heart instantly sank from my chest to my stomach. Unfortunately, his dad wasn’t home. From the balcony, my son could see his dad’s car parked outside and forgot it had been there all along.
Explaining these things. It’s hard.
I looked out from my kitchen table to the balcony and said, “Your dad. He’s at work. He won’t be home for a while still.”
In the sweetest and most authentic voice you could imagine, he responded, “Mom, I really miss my dad right now.”
My heart ached.
“You know what?” I said, “Let’s go pretend play in your room right now and imagine what it’s like to be with daddy at work.”
He cocked his head to the side and half-smiled, but his sprint into the bedroom said. it. all.
Best Army Toys for Kids
post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure here.
Whether you have a military child or a civilian child who loves army toys, these military toys for kids are perfect for creativity, imaginative play or therapeutic role play while mom or dad is away on a military deployment.
1. Camouflage Military Army Truck Play Tent
This pop up tent is too perfect for imaginative role play. It allows kids to really immerse themselves in the experience. I absolutely love that it folds up into a really compact bag for storage, making it easy to take anywhere! Out of all the kids’ army toys, this one is my favorite.
2. Kids Army Camouflage Two Color Face Paint Stick
This camo face paint stick is easy to remove with baby wipes, which makes it a win in my book. The black and olive drab paint is pocket size and makes imaginative role play so much fun!
3. Kids Army Camouflage Vest
This vest is fully adjustable and has 9 pockets. It fits most 5-13 year olds, although I know younger kids don’t mind wearing an over-sized vest during play. Combined with the tent and face paint, this army toy vest for kids completes the look.
4. Kids Army Camouflage Watch
The key with this military toy is that it fits small wrists. Around here, my son always sees his dad wearing a big watch. Having a watch of his own (just like dad) helps with that connection. It’s something they have together.
5. Army Walkie Talkies with Belt Clip
These do not have a long range like professional walkie talkies, but work great for imaginative role play and playing around the house. The sound and experience of this military toy for kids is fun for saying secret messages during play.
6. Deluxe Master Chief Gloves For Kids
These are Halo gloves, but I think they fit in beautifully as a military toy for kids. They will fit kids in the 5-12 age range, depending on your child’s hand size. But again, it think most kids would happily wear them even if they are a little big.
7. Army Men Soldier Bucket Playset
Whatever happened to good old fashioned army men as a kids’ military toy? I love these because you get such a rich amount of figures, but also because these spark a huge amount of creativity. I love toys that do not make noise or have a lot of flashing lights because they are GOLD when it comes to encouraging imaginative play.
Here’s the best part.
After a good long hour playing with a few military toys for kids, my son looked up at me and said, “My dad is at work, but he loves me.”
Problem-solving is a creative process. Anything that strengthens a child’s problem-solving skills will nurture their resilience. Imaginative role-play is a beautiful tool to use with military kids of all ages.
I have no doubt our hour-long play session helped him break through some of the emotions he was experiencing.
Your kids are naturally curious, inquisitive and creative. When you give them the space and the time to play and get creative, they’ll do the rest.
This is a sponsored conversation on behalf of WooHoo Toys. All opinions and text are my own.
Want more on military life?
- Best Toys and Resources for Military Kids During Deployment
- Best Parenting Tips for Military Kids During Deployment
- What a 2-Year-Old Will Teach You About Surviving Deployment
- 31+ Genius Tips, Hacks and Ideas for Surviving Your Next Deployment
Hi Lauren!
We are a civilian family, but my 7-yr old son is so interested in military everything. He only brings home books from the library about military planes, ships, guns, uniforms, etc. His favorite place to go is our local military recruiting center so he can stare at the posters and pamphlets in the window with the hopes of seeing someone walk out in uniform. He plays with his cardboard oversized building blocks (brought by Santa when he was 1, but he still plays with them daily) and his bucket o’military toys (mentioned in your article) all the time, building forts and bunkers, hangars for the planes, and barracks for the soldiers. He has recently gotten into Nerf battles, so we turned our old, decrepit tennis court into a Nerf Battleground. We have camo and green tents for hideouts and he was asking for more ‘military things’ for his nerf battles. A google search led me to your blog! Your list is terrific! I’ll be getting the vests, face paint, and a few other things at your recommendation. Our family is not in the military (not since our grandfather’s), so I have no idea where this infatuation comes from, but it’s stuck since he was tiny and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. If the military is where he feels led in the future, I will certainly encourage his service. Thank you to you for this list and to your entire family for your service and sacrifice.
i like the instincs of your son 🙂
i read it and i like it but im only 10 and i acsidently cliked on this when i was looking at army pictures and i am very interested in the millitary and its all i ever do (or play army video games), and i would buy those millitary toy (if i could),.