Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

Original poster

Can you recommend a toy garage for a 3 year old?

19 replies

LolaLadybird · 21/10/2010 22:31

DD is nearly 3 and I want to buy him a toy garage for his birthday or Christmas. He currently has the ELC Whizz Around garage but has outgrown it really. I've been looking at Plan and Le Toy Van as I like the idea of a wood one.

OP posts:
LionOnTheFloorInAPoolOfBlood · 21/10/2010 22:37

Have been looking myself, and also like the idea of a wooden one - especially as DS is only 1 and prone to breaking everything he touches.

Lots of people rave about the vintage Fisher Price ones, they seemed pretty bomb proof. A few available on ebay, but they all look well used

Original poster
LolaLadybird · 21/10/2010 22:41

We can be shallow together Lion. DC's have my old childhood Lego to play with and DD also has my childhood Laura Ashley bedding on her bed (she loves it to be fair) so feel like we're already working the vintage thang ..Grin

OP posts:
LionOnTheFloorInAPoolOfBlood · 22/10/2010 12:50

Here are a few sites we have been looking at

Good overview

These are probably the contenders:
possibly the main contender
Have to love Plan Toys though
ELC not bad
Possibly too many small parts

Would love to hear from anyone who has these, or indeed any other recommendations

WindUpBird · 22/10/2010 13:08

I have the Plan Toys one (well, DS has, got it for his 2nd birthday). I bought it from John Lewis for £35 inc 2 cars, a helicopter, 2 little people, and a petrol tanker. So check to see if they still do it - it had JL branding on the box, but it was made by Plan Toys. Might be worth phoning them as when I eventually got around to buying it, it was no longer listed on the website but they had lots in stock.

I think it's fab, you have to build it yourself but it's very easy. It's sturdy and I like the design so I don't mind the fact that it is a 'feature' in the lounge. We did have a 2nd hand Fisher Price one for a while (it was newish though, not vintage) and DD and DS were never interested in it. I would say DS likes it but doesn't really love it. Maybe he's still a bit young though.
Hope this helps!

thisisyesterday · 22/10/2010 13:10

i have been looking at these too

reviews on amazon for the Plan one wasn't great. apparently the plastic edging comes off very, very easily.

we need a very sturdy one as the boys do tend to sit on it Hmm

thisisyesterday · 22/10/2010 13:12

i think this one is the one we have settled for.

maybe

Original poster
LolaLadybird · 22/10/2010 15:31

This Plan one has good reviews on Amazon but can be bought cheaper from www.littlefishtoys.co.uk. Which was the Plan one you saw with the poor reviews Yesterday? At the moment, this is probably the main contender for us.

Reviews on the ELC ones also not great from what I can remember.

I like the Branching Out one aswell though.

OP posts:
Original poster
LolaLadybird · 22/10/2010 15:34

I also like the sound of the JL one, WindUp, but it's not on their website currently. How long ago did you get yours?

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 22/10/2010 16:55

i'm lying!
it wasn't the plan one at all. sorry, i have looked at SO many Confused

it was this one that didn't get great reviews le toy van

foxypar4 · 22/10/2010 16:56

The Plan one (linked to above)on Amazon and littlefishtoys is the same one that I bought last year from JL. It's listed on Amazon more than once with varying reviews. We paid £35 and it came with 2 cars, a lorry, 2 people & a helicpoter. They don't seem to be included if you buy from Amazon, not sure about littlefish.

I had been going to get the ELC wooden one for DS1 (he was 2) last Christmas. It kept going out of stock so I waited and finally managed to order it along with other stuff but when my order arrived - no garage and no explanation! DH phoned ELC and they said they were out of stock again and they had no lead time. That was the week before Christmas and I was panicking. At the last minute I found the John Lewis/Plan one and cheaper than the ELC garage. It was delivered very quickly in time for Christmas and ds loved it.

We were pleased with it - very simple and quite sturdy. DS2 does tend to pull the barrier off the lift but I can live with that. I hope JL get them back in.

Will try to put a pic on my profile.

thisisyesterday · 22/10/2010 16:57

i think i decided on the first one i linked to because there are no big plastic parts and it has lots of little other bits like the car wash, pumps and little raising platform

Original poster
LolaLadybird · 24/10/2010 22:03

I've gone for the Plan one in the end - ordered it from LittleFish website as it definitely had the best price plus cheaper delivery than some so a whopping £19 cheaper than Amazon all in all. A friend of mine has had the Plan one for several years and says it lasted really well. It also has wooden road & rail track that links up (possibly a present idea for a future birthday or Xmas).

OP posts:
Original poster
LolaLadybird · 24/10/2010 22:07

Also meant to say that I phoned John Lewis today and they told me they no longer stock their wooden garage (which was actually the Plan one boxed up with the JL brand name).

OP posts:
lanismum · 24/10/2010 23:01

I am after a garage for my ds 16 months, I have been searching for a while and even started a thread the other day, but thisisyesterday I love the one you have possibly settled on, I think I will get that, it looks quite sturdy

llareggub · 24/10/2010 23:12

The wooden ones linked to look very similar to the one I bought for my DS. It really didn't last very long and came apart very easily. We meant to get around to gluing it together but didn't, and now it pretty much destroyed.

We did buy a plastic one last year and it took hours to put together and was truly the most hideous thing I've ever seen. It wasn't long before that one bit the dust.

This will sound really wanky but what my DS likes most is sliding his cars down an old poster tube. His grandad has even constructed a series of poster tubes linked together in a take on the marble game, but with cars, and DS loves it. He has played with it far more than the two garages we've wasted money on.

Sorry.

TheRedSalamander · 25/10/2010 10:18

Mikes Garage (the Le Toy Van or whatever its called) looks beautiful but ours broke within hours of play and one of the http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/RY7O55CLJ7MQY reviews on amazon says exactly what happened to us too (note I am not mrs s haynes!)

Very disappointing and poor quality for the price
Because it broke so easily I would like to get them another but the fact it was a gift from their lovely aunt makes me think I shouldn't, it cost so blimmin much it would be a bit rude to chuck it out and get them a different one.

Tikkabillajive · 25/10/2010 10:23

Ok, it's not wooden, and not particularly beautiful, but I can wholeheartedly recommend this garage for sheer indestructability and play value. (You can use google translate to order from this site if your German is as rusty/non-existent as mine!)

TheRedSalamander · 25/10/2010 11:40

Sorry review here

arfasleep · 25/10/2010 11:52

My DS went from whizz around garage (ELC) to Big City Garage (also ELC), both v sturdy, nothing broken although put into storage at about age 5 as didn't seem to play with any more. Still loves toy cars though.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page