Best happyland toys?

[1morestepalongtheworldigo]

Looking to get DD some for Christmas she's 18months but not sure what bits to get!

[kennythekangaroo]

The farm is nice with good size animals.

Get them fron ebay, they seem to be in good condition and last for years.

[YougreatPamplemousse]

DD2 is 16mo and she has the village with bakery and telephone box which make noises when you press the buttons. We also have the fairy tree, which also makes noises but the village is her favourite.

[xBeingTheBestMummyICanx]

I agree the farm is really good. My DD is 4 years old but still plays with hers.

[savoycabbage]

My dd loved the caravan. It was the bunk beds that did it I think.

[iarebaboon]

i came here to ask the exact same thing

having read the older stuff is better i'm looking on ebay but there is so much it's helpful to know which the better bits are (so bumpety bump )

[SurprisEs]

DD loves the train set and the red T-Rex with the prehistoric family.

I have heard good things about the funfair set so I'll be buying that one for x-mas.

[WhatWouldLeoDo]

Lots of happyland on offer at elc just now.

[frasersmummy]

nooo - dont do it .. it will take over your house ..... lol

Ds started with the fire station at around 18months. over the years we built up a town...

We bought the playmat/road and put all the buildings round it.. we had firestation, police station, bakers,vet , and other stuff i cant remember

we had the funfair as well which I thought was brilliant .. ds was more interested in characters moving around the town.. mr bun reporting crime to police, fireman going for tea at the bakers etc

the firestation was always his favourite

we finally sold it al at a car boot when he was 5....

[mummc2]

the fairy toadstool house is half price at minute £11!!

[BertieBotts]

Yes do look on ebay. Set it to search by nearest to and then see if there are any to pick up - postage really bumps the cost up. Also, if you search for "Happy street" you can find the older stuff which comes with bases for the shops/houses and a road system. Stuff labelled as "Happy street" tends to sell for cheaper as well, because not as many people search for it. Sometimes the road system/bases come up under "Happyland road" searches as well.

DS started off with the emergency vehicle set at 14 months, which he just used for ages as toy cars and liked the sounds, then someone bought him the plane, which he didn't really play with until he was older, and my mum bought him the big wheel (from fairground set). These were all unrelated, but he loved the way he could put the characters from the different sets in the cars etc and we had fun making people fly off the ferris wheel and need an ambulance . I noticed they had some of the shops at his childminder's, so I asked her if he played with them much, and she said that he did, so I bought a job lot from ebay, which was a police station, petrol station, some of the road and a construction vehicle/worker/prop set.

I recommend getting the ones which fit together with many of the others, rather than the more random ones like the pirate ship, dinosaur, fairy sets etc (though I suppose you could have a fairy village with shops etc, or the pirate/dinosaur pillaging the town!) just because I think it works nicely as a town, you can have as little or as much as you like, and it's a good thing to tell relatives about for christmas presents etc, and dinosaurs/pirates etc, there are always standalone sets of these which might be cheaper or more detailed or something.

[BertieBotts]

Oops forgot to add, and then I went a bit mad on ebay a few months back and bought the vets, post office (Post office has postbox with real slot, and a little slot on the side to catch mail, if you cut some tiny rectangles of paper and draw the detail on, you can have fun "really" posting mini letters. Probably best once they are over 3 or so though.) bakery/tea rooms, and a little town square accessory set with ducks, fountain, tree (which people can hide in!) etc. So it's expanded quite a lot!

[BertieBotts]

And also, DS especially likes the sets which mirror experiences he actually has, so the post office/vets/tea rooms one. After we've been to one of these places he spends ages making the little characters do the same.

[MonsterBookOfTysons]

We have only bought one thing so far but it is brilliant. The train set. :)
I want to get dd the palace but may change to the farm. Off to look!

[moragbellingham]

The fairy boot was half price in ELC last week.

[pixipie151]

Dont bother getting the castle, its useless. The doors are forever falling off at the slightest touch which is a shame as thats the bit the LO wants to touch. Also the furniture does not fit inside and the king and queen do not fit on their chairs. The little people are nice though.

[MissTinaTeaspoon]

I agree that the castle has annoying aspects but it's what gets played with most here, along with the school and bakery.