To ask for help with dd Christmas gift

[Whichone2024]

Hi all

My 2.5 DD loves imaginary play with figures etc. she has a wooden dolls house handed down through the family, with wooden figures she plays with a lot. She also plays duplo and Lego a lot, will build random homes/places for the animals and people, and recently got a little Playmobil carry case set she also loves. She’s really good with the small pieces too.
she was also make people and families out of the most random objects she can find.

im just so stuck bewteen playmobil and sylvanian families for Christmas.

aibu to ask your thoughts and why you would choose one over the other?

tia x

Play Mobil is nice chunky quality and with vast options. It’s more plausible and reflects real life families, lives and hobbies. Sylvanian families seem more for collectors who just display them rather than play with them.

Playmobil sets are often cheaper than Sylvanian sets (sets that are similar size).

Oh thanks that’s some good points.

more options is good

Oh thanks.

so playmobil has more options and cheaper.
so seems better to go with that for now!

At her current age, I'd stick with Playmobil. The small pieces are huge in comparison with the Sylvanian Families accessories!

I had Sylvanian families as a child and absolutely loved them played with them, like small dolls. But I think I was around 6 when I was given them and from distant memory (30 years, so I expect they have been updated and changed since) the had a kot of small parts for a 2.5yo. Like I remember tiny hairbrushes for the 3 inch high hedgehogs. And the mini kitchen had cutlery that was probably under 1cm and teeny.
I'd say way a few years, or only get the basic and biggest characters and steer clear of all the accessories for a few years.

Alternative suggestion if she likes imaginary play and you don't want to only offer her family/baby type stuff.
Britains farm? Endless extendable. My favourite memory is the baler that you hitched to the tractor and it pushed out actual bales as you moved it along. 😆

love Sylvanian families. They are just so sweet. My daughter has lots of them as gifts which I got and my mum buys them for her too. My only thought is that at that age, they can be quite tricky with the small parts and getting them to balance on the chairs and things.

I'd go with duplo. SF pieces are so tiny and expensive, you'd be forever replacing them at this age.

I'd get play mobile and maybe some new bits for the wooden dolls house

I would also consider how brilliant it is that your DD is creating people herself using her imagination and initiative - Playmobil is great but could you consider a more open ended toy too

Playmobil also have small parts??

At that age we removed the really tiny accessories from Playmobil and saved them for a later date. If you don't mind second-hand there are bargains you can be had. Mine loved the vehicles - refuse truck and camper van were favourites.

Sylvanians would be better in a year or two.

I would go for Playmobil at this age as she is too young to properly look after and be gentle with Sylvanian families

My ds was very similar, really good at imaginative play and loved small world type toys.
Duplo
Fisher price little people (these are great toys!)
Happyland
Yes playmobil is good but soo many tiny pieces!

I agree Playmobile. You might want to think about saving to get her a 'proper' dolls house when she's much older. My DF bought me one for my 13th birthday & was the best present I ever had. Fitting it out taught me so many skills which I've been able to scale up in my own full sized homes. For example I learned how to cut skirting boards & fit them into an angle, matching wallpaper patterns, I learned about electrics, cutting tiles etc.

She's going to have so much fun!

PS I still have some of my brother's & mine Playmobil characters from the 1970's. But I recently donated all our Lego (including Lego inherited from older uncles & aunts) to a neighbour who regularly looks after her twin grandsons. I feel it a shame that these days Lego is mostly models - not like when I was a kid & you used to get a box of bricks & make of it what ever your imagination dictated.

The bigger Playmobil sets can be a pain in the arse. My son had a petrol station and police station and they came in a hundred odd bits that constantly came apart and required reassembly (and eventually got lost.) The figures, however, last for millennia.

Oh lots to think about. I think since she already has a wooden dolls house, I’ll not get her another type of house.

as a pp suggest I may get some additional people or pets for the wooden house as she doesn’t have much, also the parents need a bed!
I think I’ll still get her a sylvanian family though, just not the accessories, then I can see over time which figures she enjoys most.

Im just stick what to get as a main gift but maybe I’ll just get her few smaller things instead because all I can really think at the moment is how she likes to play families with little figures/objects..

unless I get a playmobil set…. She does talk about her nursery pals a lot so maybe if there is one like a nursery or school (but not too big!) or a sylvanian/ playmobil bus… she loves trips on the nursery bus!
i am so bad at decisions! 😂

@Whichone2024 could you take her to a toy shop and point out Playmobil and Sylvanians ("Oh look....these are cute") and see which ones she seems more interested in.

Oh great idea I think I will do that!

I’ve never taken her to a toy shop! It will be fun 🤩

I'd say Playmobil! But then I am a huge fan!

But you can do so many different scenarios with Playmobil. I still make scenes with it myself even though ds has outgrown it. My most recent was a Playmobil Olympics this summer.

We loved both Playmobil and Sylvanian families. My daughter also had a wooden dolls house and used to put the Sylvanian characters in the house. So maybe you could get some characters without the accessories.
I used to buy a lot of second hand of both.

Another vote for Playmobil. The bits are harder to lose, it's not outgrown as quickly, it is incredibly robust and the variations are endless. My DC had everything from Medieval peasants to road menders and a dentist.

TBH they loved Sylvanians too, but the PM got more use.