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Christmas

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Original poster

Playmobil, happy land & lego duplo for 4 year old girl advice

27 replies

indiana7 · 21/12/2016 22:01

My dd is nearly 4 & dd2 is 2.5, they have loads of happyland & love it... Is there any point in investing in Playmobil, whats the difference really is it all just pretend play with figures?
Also we have some duplo & they like it, when would they advance onto Lego friends or would playmobile be similar, love the way the duplo creates something & they are building their fine motor skills... Tia

OP posts:

Flingmoo · 21/12/2016 22:08

I think Playmobil is great quality and comes with more small accessories for imaginative play as it's aimed at older children than Duplo and Happyland which are more for toddlers.

I wouldn't be buying any more Happyland stuff at this point, my 2.5 year old still plays with a Happyland fire engine but I won't be expanding his collection as I think he's ready to move on to more fiddly stuff. I think there is a lot more for kids to do with Playmobil and it'll keep older toddlers and kids entertained longer.

My son has asked for a bin lorry for Christmas so I've got him a Playmobil one as it comes with little bins that clip on and empty out into the lorry

ijustwannadance · 21/12/2016 22:14

I wouldn't bother with more duplo for the 4yo. Playmobil is ok and quite solid but lots of small fiddly bits not suitable for the younger one. Depends on your DC's. My 5 year old would find playmobil very babyish but most on MN seem to love the stuff.

maisybobbins · 21/12/2016 22:19

I'm getting a bit more duplo for my 4yo this Christmas as he absolutely loves it. I have older dc so there is Lego in the house but he massively prefers the duplo. My DD started liking Lego friends about a year ago at age 8. Don't progress them too quickly along the toy ladder!

belleandsnowwhite · 21/12/2016 22:27

I have a 4 year old, I have got her playmobil for christmas but will put the small bits away until she is older. I think she would do well with proper lego however going to wait until my 2 yo ds is older before buying lego as she is still happy with duplo which they can both play with.

MollyHuaCha · 21/12/2016 22:50

Duplo is compatible with 'real' lego, so no need to discard later. You can mix them.

KatherinaMinola · 21/12/2016 22:59

I think at 4 and 2.5 they would still get loads of use out of Duplo - the benefit being that they could both play with it together (ie no tiny bits). So if they like it I think I would get another Duplo.

Both Playmobil and regular Lego are fantastic for when they are a bit older. Btw I would not get Lego Friends - get regular old-school Lego, as it is much more construction-based (Lego Friends is more playset-based).

ijustwannadance · 21/12/2016 23:32

Lego friends sets are construction based. You have to build them. The pieces can be used to build other things.

It completely depends on the individual child.

KatherinaMinola · 21/12/2016 23:35

Yeah, but they're not as good as regular Lego. I know there are some fun sets but they are dumbed down.

ijustwannadance · 21/12/2016 23:38

What are regular lego sets? Do you mean just boxes of bricks?

Paddingtonthebear · 21/12/2016 23:40

DD 4.2yo got playmobil and Lego friends sets for her 4th birthday. They are not as liked as I thought they would be. Very fiddly. I think she may like them when she's a bit older. She loves small world stuff but I think it's all too little and prone to coming apart for her right now. She plays out the same playmobil /lego themes with random things in the house rather than using the actual playmobil/lego

Paddingtonthebear · 21/12/2016 23:42

Sorry it was lego juniors for age 4+ not lego friends.

Both playmobil and lego junior sets took forever to put together and so many tiny pieces that easily come off. Duplo more robust for a young age 4, if they want to pretend play. Regular lego and duplo also good if they just want to stack and make random objects and towers.

DeleteOrDecay · 21/12/2016 23:43

Yes to duplo. We've got our 4yo and 18month old one of the bigger sets to add to their existing basic set of bricks as a joint present. They both love it and it's also something they can play with together. DM have also got them a smaller set each so by the end of Christmas they will have quite the collection. Even if 4yo grows out of it in the next year the younger one will still get a few more years use out of it.

NiceFalafels · 21/12/2016 23:46

Mine never got on with duplo or play mobile but lego is amazing. My 4 year old and my 12 year old plays with it

NiceFalafels · 21/12/2016 23:48

We have regular lego and they make tons of stuff and have mass imaginary games that take over the lounge for days.

Embolio · 22/12/2016 00:15

My 3 year old loves duplo and my 4 1/2 yo still plays with it, along with regular Lego. The regular lego is better for them than the 'sets' at that age I'd say. I've got 3yo playmobile set for Christmas- never had it before so we'll see how it goes down!

Embolio · 22/12/2016 00:17

Don't think I'd be buying more happyland for 4yo but I'm sure the little one would like it still, especially if it's well used at the moment.

Pengweng · 22/12/2016 06:00

My four year olds have normal lego. Just regular bricks. They were DHs but they are getting some lego Elves for Christmas. They still play happyland but i would not buy any more.

greatbigwho · 22/12/2016 06:52

My 3yo loves her Duplo, but she's got some actual Lego as well and loves it - I think she finds the smaller bits easier to manipulate. We bought her playmobil for her birthday as well, and she gets loads of enjoyment out of it - she's never been one to put things in her mouth, and loves setting the tables with the tiny knives and forks etc. I think it depends on your child - I know three might seem young, but she's loving it all and it's age appropriate for her.

Nearlyadoctor · 22/12/2016 07:07

I agree with poster earlier who said ' don't move them along the toy ladder too early'. My Dd is 9.5 and is still having a small Playmobil set for Christmas ( horse trailer to go with her large stable set).

I think we worry too much about them growing out of things and often buy prematurely. Dd only got into Playmobil age 7 and I worried it was too late to start buying it - she has had hours and hours of play value from it.

I made the mistake of buying lots of Sylvanians when she was 4 and passing on a lot of her Happyland sets. The Sylvanians were too fiddly and despite having been bought add ons as she has got older have never been played with too the same extent as Happyland.

With a 2.5 yr old I would still buy additional Happyland and Duplo, and perhaps some basic smaller Lego bricks which can be used with regular Duplo. Something like the Playmobil ark is a great starter set - huge box, looks amazing set up and not very many small pieces.

RhinestoneCowgirl · 22/12/2016 07:15

I would hold off on playmobil for the moment, it's a great toy but so many tiny tiny pieces to get lost.

DD first got playmobil last Xmas when she was 7, she loves anything to do with imaginative play. She also really enjoys Lego, but is pretty scathing about Lego Friends.

IIRC we first got Lego kit when DS was 5, he was able to build from the instructions pretty much by himself. Still plays with it now aged 10.

TynesideBlonde · 22/12/2016 07:35

It depends so much on the child. DS3 loves Playmobil, plays for hours with it. Some friends who come to play have no interest.

greenfolder · 22/12/2016 07:40

Interesting. I have bought playmobil for the first time for dd3 who has just turned 9!. She saw the pre school and playground set in one of those leaflets. I concluded that only now has she actually got the manual dexterity to really enjoy it!

llangennith · 22/12/2016 07:55

DGS is 9 and still loves his playmobil. With good storage (IKEA Trofest and boxes) nothing gets lost. The 'little bits' are part of the fun: children have little hands. Started buying playmobil when he was 3.
We have lots of Lego, new and passed down from my DC, but any new Lego has to include lots of figures as he'd rather arrange the people than create Lego masterpieces.
Duplo is fun but takes up so much space!

Stokey · 22/12/2016 08:00

My dds aged 7 & 5 both like Playmobil but it is a bit fiddly. This year I've only bought them the Advent calendars - which I highly recommend, they've love building up the Christmas scenes every day. But they actually tend to play acting out games more than they play with toy sets.

With Playmobil they spend a lot more time setting up. We have a couple of the fairy and unicorn sets and the swimming pool which is fun in the summer.

BurnTheBlackSuit · 22/12/2016 08:12

I am glad to read of the other 9 year old playmobil fans! DS is also 9.5 and loves his playmobil (and Lego). He will actually still play with HappyLand sometimes, so hasn't completely grown out of it, but it's a bit too limited for a 9 year old!

However, for a 4 year old, it depends on the child. Is she calm and able to concentrate on things- i.e. Takes time over craft activities, has patience, sits still etc. If so maybe worth moving onto Lego and playmobil, but if not or if you're not reLly sure, and especially with a 2 year old, I'd stick with happyland and duplo. As PP said, don't try and hurry them to the next toy 'up', especially if she is still happy and loving HappyLand. There are so many lovely sets!!

Alternatively, Playmobil do a few 1,2,3 sets for younger children, such as a Noah's Ark and a playground set which are lovely too!

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