Pop-Up Play Town Puppet Theatre Review
DISCLOSURE -THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Deborah Banasko
My children have so many puppets; toys hand-puppets, finger puppets, hand-made/badly stitched puppets and the sock variety. They love to stack chairs in a row and cover them in blankets to create a theatre, then make tickets and posters to invite me to their show. So, you can imagine the Mum-points that I received when the Pop-Up Play Town Puppet Theatre arrived!
Just a note of caution, it arrives in the original manufacturers packaging- only an issue if it’s a gift really. The box is solid, and not too large so it’s easy to store at home.
Inside the box you will find the theatre play curtain with fitting rods, play money, tickets and card puppets. There aren’t any instructions, but it is self-explanatory as you have a picture of the item on the box.
It is really simple to set up the theatre inside a door frame at home. It’s lightweight, extendable to size and won’t damage any paintwork. It pops in, slides out and rolls back into the box. I love that you don’t need lots of space to accommodate this item both during play and when tidying it away; easy to set up and easy to tidy away again. The dual sided curtain allows children to really embrace the full theatre role-play; you have one more plain side with the traditional actors dual mask symbol and the side other detailing the seating plan (so that you can find your seat number), a sounds and lights box plus a refreshments area. It is really good quality the curtain is much thicker than I expected so I can’t envisage it getting damaged as the children pass back and forth. The cutest feature is the little red velvet curtains that you slide along a rope to one side when the puppets come on “stage”.
The play money is thickened shiny paper, and you get an impressive 28 notes in total, depicting values of 5, 10, 20 and 50 with a different colour for each value. You receive 12 golden admission tickets too, which are very sweet and great for role play. I love that you can introduce a bit of number work, calculating change etc.
There are 5 puppet characters which you stick onto lolly-sticks yourself (all part of the fun); a bear, cat, dog, sheep and of course the wolf. Whilst these are made from thin card, so they are thicker than the money and tickets, if I were being picky I would have liked these slightly thicker and more durable. However these characters are really just intended to get you started.
Whilst it didn’t bother me that the puppets were only one sided, I would have preferred the money and tickets to be two sided, just for that final touch. We have been discussing sticking two notes together and perhaps laminating them so that they last longer.
My kids have had so much fun with this toy; it’s added a real buzz of excitement to the house and offers so many opportunities for role play both with the puppets, ticket seller and theatre guests. Then you have the show posters that my kids like to make, scripts and rehearsals. A really great present idea for an active imagination. The target age range of 3-7 is probably right if I were looking to buy this as a gift, although my 10 year old has played with this just as much as the 6 year old has. My 13 year old even jumped in for a turn.
For £19.99 this is a real bargain, and a great price-point as a gift. This is a toy which really grows the imagination, offers so much play time as they rehearse and get ready for the show but also gets the whole family involved and together. A real memory creator! If the Grandparents aren’t due a visit then I am forced to record and send their shows on so that everyone can watch their creativity!
I would award this toy 5/5 stars.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £19.99
Available to buy from Amazon here