About — Tildie's Toy Box Philadelphia Toy Store East Passyunk Imagine Create Explore

MISSION: Tildie’s Toy Box focuses on gender neutral toys & books aimed to engage children in play through imagination, creativity, and exploration.

WHY ARE ‘GENDER NEUTRAL’ TOYS IMPORTANT?: At Tildie’s Toy Box, we firmly believe that all children should be allowed and encouraged to play with all types of toys. This means that building toys, which develop motor skills, cognitive thinking, and social skills, are not just for boys. And that baby dolls, that encourage empathy, caring, and compassion are skills that both girls and boys can benefit from. We challenge you to leave your preconceived notions about “girl’s toys” and “boy’s toys” at the door and let your child choose what they are drawn to. Better yet, encourage them to try out something they may not necessarily pick out! Either way, you and your child will be allowed the freedom to choose and PLAY with all items at Tildie’s Toy Box.

WHY IS PLAY SO IMPORTANT?: Play is important because children do their best learning best while playing. Why? Play makes learning easy and, most importantly FUN! That means actively engaging with an item or another person, not observing a screen or flashing lights & sounds. Active play allows kids to develop a range of life skills from fine and large motor skills, cognitive development, social skills, and so much more. Surrounding kids, beginning at a young age, with opportunities to develop a wide range of skills is vital to childhood development. Remember-play is not just for kids! It’s important for everyone, regardless of age, to take time to play, whether its playing a board game with friends, a quiet moment alone with a coloring book, or working on a puzzle with your family, play offers everyone a chance to de-stress, re-connect with family and friends, and have some fun!

WHY SHOP AT TILDIE’S TOY BOX? Tildie's Toy Box, is more than just an independent toy store. We are committed to offering our community a fun and inviting place where all are welcome. We host regular events for the neighborhood. We encourage learning, diversity, community engagement, and anything aimed to educate our future generations. We focus on toys aimed to spark creativity and imagination, discover and explore interests, challenge kids, encourage interactions with family and friends, and of course are fun! The toys we carry at Tildie's Toy Box are curated to repeatedly engage children over time providing hours-and years-of learning, exploring, and fun, while building memories that will last a lifetime. At Tildie's Toy Box, we invite you to, "Come play with us!".

THE TILDIE’S STORY: Tildie's Toy Box is the realization of a dream for Michelle Gillen-Doobrajh. Michelle has a background in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. From there she worked in medical research and eventually followed one of her passions by working in the restaurant industry as a cook in both pastry and culinary for several years. After the birth of her first child, she stayed home with her eldest daughter for 3 years. During this time, she realized the importance of quality, well chosen toys in a child’s overall development. This began her goal of making gender neutral, basic, and open-ended toys available for everyone.

Michelle lives with her husband, Paul, and their two daughters in the Passyunk Square neighborhood of Philadelphia. She has a background in medical research, as a pastry cook, and studied architecture, so naturally, founding a toy store came naturally! Michelle is also an advocate for women’s health having battled triple negative breast cancer during her second year of business.