Schleich Meerkat Hangout Review

Reviewed by Alice Dixon

My son is a big animal lover. Pets, farm animals, wild animals – he loves them all. He loves to visit zoos, read books about all sorts of amazing creatures and above all he adores his collection of toy animals and accessories that enjoys imaginative play with. He already has quite an impressive collection of Schleich as well as other similar brands so he was delighted to receive the Meerkat Hangout set from Schleich which is one animal he didn’t already have.

The Meerkat Hangout is a new set in the Schleich Wild Life Range. It retails at around £15.99 and is suitable for 3-8 years. Some of the pieces are very small so not suitable for under threes, however I would suggest older children, especially those that collect the range will enjoy this age eight and beyond too.

The Meerkat Hangout set arrived packaged in a small cardboard box with the larger pieces loose inside and smaller ones safe in a plastic wrapping. Also included was an instruction sheet to build the set and the latest Schleich catalogue which of course my son perused, mentally purchasing his next set! I like how the toy was packaged, often we’ve felt disappointed when a much too large box has arrived only to find a small amount of pieces inside. This was a perfect fit making it ideal to store the pieces in when we’re not playing.

This set contained three loveable meerkats in different poses as well as the pieces that slot together to build their hangout house and a creepy crawly centipede! The set was simple to build, in fact my six year old son excitedly emptied the box and began to follow the instructions with a little help from his big brother. Soon he was done and very happily playing. It’s a lovely set to encourage imaginative small world play in children and can be enjoyed equally by itself or joined to another set. My son has had this out every day since it arrived so it was certainly worthwhile getting it. The little meerkats actually fit in and out of the mounds. There is a leaf swing and my son loved placing the animals on the seesaw and sliding them down. There’s hours of fun to be had.

I was impressed by the high quality of each piece. Everything is so well made, ideal for lots of playing and I was amazed by the attention to detail, especially of the little meerkats themselves. For this reason I think it is such good value for money. I think this would make a wonderful Christmas gift for any boy or girl. Whether you buy it for a Schleich lover to add this new addition to the range to their collection or for a child who just loves animals they will be delighted with it. I know my son is hoping there will be some Schleich toys under the tree this year.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £15.99

This product can be purchased from the Schleich website here.