Playmobil Family Fun Range Review
Reviewed by Louise Totton
We are well into June, we have had some absolutely glorious sunny days of late and I have been lucky enough to have spent lots of time outside with the kids over the last few weeks, yet as I type this, I am looking out of my office window at grey skies, torrential rain and I am considering turning the central heating back on! Where we are, the Easter and Spring Bank holidays were only a few weeks apart, which means we have had an awful lot of time to fill up. This is not a problem when the sun is shining, but is a lot more difficult when the sun goes in and the rain starts. It’s not even TOO bad if it is for the odd day in a week-long holiday, but the thought of a prolonged period of rain in the big, six-week holidays strikes fear into every parent of school-aged kids that I know!
One thing I am quite sure of is that continual days spent watching the TV, staring at iPad screens and playing on the Xbox lead to us all getting cabin fever, and feeling bored and frustrated. And whilst trips out are a fantastic way to break up the holidays, when it’s raining we are pretty much limited to indoor venues which can cost a fortune – our last family trip to the cinema came in at nearly £50 once we’d included tickets, sweets, drinks and parking.
So, what is needed is things for the kids to play with at home. Like most parents, I do keep a standby of puzzle books, colouring things and games in the house for the school holidays, but for the big holidays I do like to get them a few proper ‘toys’ too – things that encourage imagination and that the kids can play with together. Playmobil is a huge favourite in our house, and both of the girls had lots of it on their Christmas lists last year. We now have everything from police stations to safari parks and almost everything in between!
We have been lucky enough to have been sent a couple of bits from the Playmobil Family Fun range to try out – the Summer Villa (set 9420) and Family Car (set 9421), which we thought were a particularly good choice, because even when it’s raining outside, we could bring a bit of the summer inside.
The Summer Villa (RRP: £59.99) is absolutely gorgeous and reminds me of some of the Spanish holiday villas I stayed in as a child. It is a two-storey villa with French doors to a patio area, a Juliette balcony and a spiral staircase down the outside of the building. The downstairs living space consists of a kitchen area with sink, oven and dining table, a bathroom with bath, sink and toilet (and toilet roll and toilet brush, which my kids found strangely hilarious), whilst the upstairs has a master bedroom with a double bed and a kids’ room with two singles. There is even furniture for the patio, where there is an outdoor dining set, BBQ, sun lounger and pot plants. The set also includes a family of four (mum, dad and two children).
Like all Playmobil stuff, the detail and little bits are what make the set so special – this one includes bits like the aforementioned loo roll and toilet brush as well as a toaster, cutlery, crockery, and BBQ food for downstairs and lamps, a teddy, hairbrushes even a watering can for the balcony topiary upstairs.
We all know that stuff like this does take a bit of assembly and if you’re anything like me, you will want to get it done without the kids hanging around asking if it’s nearly done yet! Just like every item of Playmobil we have ever assembled, the instructions are very clear and accurate and the component parts clip together easily and securely. Once assembled, it really does stay together very well and doesn’t lead to the kids getting frustrated with collapsing properties – something that happens a lot with some of the flimsier toy buildings that we have. The instructions give an assembly time of around 90 minutes, but because we are so used to putting Playmobil together, we had it completed in an awful lot less time than that.
Once the building was complete and all of the stickers had been applied, we popped all of the accessories into a plastic tub for the kids so they could get on with furnishing and organising the house and its occupants whilst we started on building the Family Car (RRP: £29.99). Whilst building the villa was easy, building the car was an absolute cinch and only took us around ten minutes. It’s a simple case of assembling the wheels and attaching to the car, clipping the sunroof into place and adding the stickers – it couldn’t be easier! Just like the villa, the car comes with some fantastic accessories for making imaginative play even more fun – the car comes with a family of four people, a scooter, luggage, picnic accessories and even an infant car seat for the youngest family member!
So far, the girls (who are 7 and 9) have had great fun with this little set! They have loved setting up BBQs, parties and days out by the beach. We do already have a number of Playmobil sets in the house, so we have had zebras and lions invited to the picnics as well as the police swooping in in their helicopter to arrest ‘dad’ for stealing all of the BBQ sausages and carting him off to Playmobil Police HQ and a quick visit from a Roman Emperor! I honestly would have thought that my eldest would be growing out of toys like this as she approaches her 10th birthday (and maybe she will soon), but for now it’s wonderful to see her playing with proper toys, using her imagination and putting the electronics down.
Sets like this are so easy to add to, and all of the people and accessories are compatible across the ranges, which helps their imagination to flourish even more and it certainly keeps their interest alive. Every time we add a new set to our collection, it reinvigorates their enjoyment of all of their sets, which is fantastic. They will happily play with this stuff for hours on end, which is perfect when the weather is grey and wet, and at least with the Family Fun range everything is summery, warm and bright!
We have had a wonderful time playing with these sets and I know the kids will come back to it again and again, rainy days or not!
Rating: 5/5
For more information or to buy visit www.playmobil.co.uk.
