Heart of a Child

What a wonderful shop! The owner truly cares about his toy’s being used for imagination and playtime! A kids dream, but adults will love it too!
The offer a wide range of classic vintage toys, without the collectors or vintage prices you will find online or anywhere else!!! (Potatoe head, strawberry shortcake, hotwheels, barbie, playdoh, slinky, etc…) in business for the love of toys, not the greed of money.
They offer card collections and handmade wooden toys, as well as green toys!!! I love that. Eco friendly recycled bpa free toys! Yay! We just had so much fun looking around and enjoying the shop, it is bright and colorful, you can’t miss it on your way through town!
A MUST STOP IF YOU’RE IN GUALALA! GREAT LOCAL SPOT, HIDDEN GEM!

If you live in this area or are just passing through I HIGHLY recommend stopping by here to pick up something for the special lil toy collector in your life, and grab a gift for yourself! You deserve it and Robert has it here! This is one of the nicest guys I’ve met in all my years of toy buying and collecting and I am a lifelong toy collector. He has a little of everything quite frankly. You won’t leave there without finding something you want, need, must have! You’re doing yourself a disservice if you are in the area and don’t at the very least come by and take a look! PLUS, Gualala is paradise on Earth so make a little vacation out of it and get your Xmas shopping done early too! The toy lover in your life will give you a BIG bear hug!

Great place to stop for the kids and adults too. Puzzles and board games along with kites and lots of fun stuff for the little ones. Best selection of mood rings in town.

Great stock and selection! Fun interesting toys that you can’t get at any store, however the lack of the other three stars is directly related to this.
When I go here and take my son I get a very significant feeling that she doesn’t want him touching the toys. At one point she told him not to open the doors to a play house. Why at a toy store would you put out things you wouldn’t let kids touch? Please keep in mind I don’t let my six year old run amok in the store but isn’t touching toys kinda the point?

Found this little gem by accident and was pleasantly surprised. We were in the area for a wedding and one of us wanted to buy a kite. Looked on my trusty Unilocal app and found this shop was about 2 miles away on our way home and was still open for another hour. Perfect excuse to make our exit from the wedding and head home (4 hours away) we left and headed straight here. Laurie was so welcoming and upbeat the place is full of everything imaginable and everyone was having a good time and found something they wanted. One of us (who will remain nameless) was feeling particularly «tipsy» was enamored with the wind up toys and couldn’t seem to get enough, I think she tried them all. Laurie was so understanding and pulled more out to show us… needless to say we got one. We got there 30 minutes before she closed but I had the feeling she would have stayed as long as we were there but needing to head on our way and knowing what it’s like on her side we headed out at closing time, but could have easily stayed longer. If your in the area I think this is a must see there are so many neat things in there, new and old. Everyone no matter the age will find something to make you smile and laugh. The name truly encompasses what this store is all about. Look for the rainbow staircase leading to fun heading up the coast its on your right. Thanks Laurie for all the smiles and laughs you shared with us.

Wonderful store! Found great gifts dirt friends and had fun playing. The store owner was charming and played with us. Definitely stop in for a visit!

For 6 or 7 years now my husband and I have retreated to Gualala for our anniversary. We stay at the same hotel in the same room and eat at the same places. May sound boring but, to us, it’s the pinnacle of relaxation.
Last year we stumbled into this toy store and ended up walking out with a ton of Christmas loot. How awesome that they carried toys I remembered playing with as a kid that I could now enjoy with my own kids! Last year the family classic was Snap Trap, this year I picked up Kerplunk.
The owner is super helpful when it comes to descriptions, because imagine this, she’s actually played with the stuff. She has a great sense for the classics as well as for the better of the new things that come out.
Now we’ve added a visit to Heart of a Child to our annual Gualala experience. Sooo much better than hitting a mall!

Neat toy store with a really good selection. The owner was super friendly and helpful and knew exactly what she had and where everything was. Good balance of mainstream toys as well as some that were locally made… Including a lovely rocking horse.
We bought a few things — and hope to come back when our one year old is bigger and can play with more stuff!