We started this because we care deeply about children.
best next was built by two people who have spent years watching children grow — and wondering why the guidance available to parents was so generic, so noisy, and so far from the actual child in front of them.
SEE IT IN ACTION
This is what best next looks like.
When it knows your child.
Mia's Profile
Mia, 2 yrs 4 months
Mia's Picks
Stacking rings
Fine motor development
Sort coloured objects
Free activity · Do it today
Wooden peg puzzle
Hand-eye coordination
Mia's Library
HOW IT WORKS
Three steps. No overwhelm.
We built this to be as simple as possible. Because parents are already busy enough.
Tell us about your child.
You tell us three things — how old they are, what they love, and what they have already mastered. We ask about milestones in plain, everyday language. Things like "plays alongside other children" or "stacks more than four blocks." It takes about three minutes. From those answers, we build their profile and keep it updated as they grow.
Get picks that are made for them.
We cross-reference their age, interests, milestones, and developmental gaps to create a personalised set of suggestions every week. Always a mix — the right toy to buy right now, and a free activity using what is already at home. Specific to your child, not children in general. The suggestions feel like advice from someone who actually knows them — because in a sense, we do.
Make the most of what you already have.
Add the toys your child owns to their library. We use that list to suggest new games and activities tailored to what is already at home. A stacking cup at 18 months is a sorting game. At two and a half, it becomes a counting experiment. At three, it is a pouring and measuring activity. We help parents see what they already have with fresh eyes — so every toy goes further.
GROUNDED IN RESEARCH
This is not a hunch.
Every recommendation best next makes is informed by decades of peer-reviewed child development science. Here is a small part of what sits under the hood.
American Academy of Pediatrics — Harvard Medical School, 2018
“Play is essential to brain development, executive function, and social-emotional growth.”
Yogman, Garner, Hirsh-Pasek et al. Pediatrics 142(3). Reaffirmed by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2025.
University of Toledo, 2018
“Toddlers played twice as long and more creatively with four toys than with sixteen.”
Dauch, Imwalle, Ocasio and Metz. Infant Behavior and Development, 50: 78–87.
University of British Columbia, 2013
“Open-ended play builds the executive function skills that predict success better than IQ.”
Adele Diamond. Annual Review of Psychology, 64: 135–168.
Temple University and University of Delaware, 2013
“Guided play — child-led exploration with adult scaffolding — is how children learn best.”
Weisberg, Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff. Mind, Brain, and Education, 7(2).
World Health Organization, 2019
“Every child under five needs active play daily. It is part of healthy development.”
WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sleep for Children Under 5.
United Nations, 1989
“Play is a fundamental right of every child.”
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 31.
We are in active conversation with paediatricians, child psychologists, and developmental researchers to ensure everything we build evolves with the science. If you work in this space and would like to be part of what we are building, we would love to hear from you.
THE TEAM
Built by people who genuinely care.
Andrea
I have been thinking about this for ten years. I have nieces and nephews I love more than words can hold, and watching them grow — and watching the parents around me guess and worry and buy the wrong things — made something very clear. The guidance that exists is too generic. Parents deserve something that actually knows their child. best next is that. Building it is the most meaningful thing I have ever done.
Pete
I am a parent. I know what it feels like to stand in a toy aisle at 6pm with no idea. I have bought the wrong things, watched them sit untouched for months, and wished someone could just tell me what my child actually needed right now. I built the technology behind best next because parents deserve better tools — and because I have seen firsthand what the right toy at the right moment can do.
We are a small team. We are building something we believe in, and we are grateful for every parent who joins us.
Come and say hello.
We read every message. We are genuinely here.