Lego Friends - what would be a good set to start off with?

[EmGee]

DD (will be 8 in Dec) has mentioned it. Not convinced as she doesn't play much with lego classic. But her friend has one and she says it's great. Sooooo - there are so many sets! Anyone recommend a good one????

Why not get her one or two small sets to test the water? My DD never got into regular lego but got hooked on Lego Friends when a friend got her a small set for her birthday. She's not even a very girly girl but I think the assortment of characters/animals did it for her. If you did want to buy a larger set, I wouldn't got for sets with boats/ferris wheels etc as they have lots of bespoke pieces that can't easily be reused to build regular buildings, which is what my DD liked to do once she'd dismantled her sets.

Thanks Bayeaux - you're right. We have the big Cinderella castle and it was always falling to pieces. Not much you could actually do with it once it was built. I'll get both DDs a small set and see how we go! Hopefully they will also be able to build them rather than me.

There are some fantastic playground/fairground sets around at the moment - one had a climbing wall I think? I'd go for something like that, where you can do something fun with it once it's built.

My DD asked for a Lego friends horse stable last Christmas and I asked my DM to get her a Lego classic ( on her tests points) and a couple if large base plates. She built the stable straight away but the classic set has been great as she build various building to go with it and is able to keep changing it.

Might sound really weird but is there anything that your dd is into?
Because they do loads of sets, there's recording studios, a science lab, horsey ones.
So if you could find one that matches her interest, it might make it more fun?
I hope that made sense. :)

Thanks everyone. The DDs already have a big box of lego classic and the Wilko baseplates. It's just that this is the only thing DD1 has asked for so I thought I should get her a set. I'm not convinced she will really play with it - I guess she could prove me wrong. Re interests - we already have Shopkins ice-cream/supermarket, doll's house and assorted Barbie cars, horses etc. She likes dance and theatre so I may look for a set like that, or animals. Think her friend has a pony one.

I just don't want to buy something that is only played with a few times speaks from bitter experience here!! and Lego is quite pricey isn't it?

We have a huge Lego Friends mountain but it got DD into playing with Lego.

Years before we got my old Lego and the plates from my mum's house but DD hardly looked at it, she liked playmobil more because it came ready made to play with, no building required. DH was utterly frustrated.

She then got a tiny Lego Friend set for her birthday and the dam was broken. I think the idea to build something "prescribed" really got her going. She can play for ages with it, make up stories about the girls etc. We have lull moments where it is hardly touched but in general she now includes the old stuff and builds houses, stables, cafes etc.

I found Lego is difficult to get cheap, you can often find the same set on Amazon with various prices, always check the RRP from Lego before you buy.

I would go for one bigger set and two which go with the same theme because that means they can be played with better. A good starter set is around 25-30 quid, the smaller ones around 12-15. Anything smaller is useless on its own and nobody needs the hotel for 100 as a starter.

The stable is a good stand alone set, so is the treehouse

There's the drama school my dd loves that. I'm looking at the hotel or hospital this year.