Small world for 3 year old?

[littlestrawby]

Hi all, looking for some tips on best pressies to encourage my 3 year old in small world play.

She's never really been interested in that mind of play) prefers direct interaction with me all the time) and I just assumed she'd get more into it as she got older but no sign yet...

I was thinking of getting her a farm/dolls house for Christmas but wondering if she is now too old to start off with those if she's never shown interest before? At what age did your little ones start to get into these things?

We got her a beautiful play kitchen last year and it's barely been touched!

Tricky as I think you have to show them small world play then they pick it up. DS is 3 and does loads of small world play with animals and dinosaurs, but only after hours of me playing farm animals with him. What would you like to play with?

Playmobil 123 has been popular here, especially the rubbish truck and astronaut.

Does she go to nursery? You could ask if she shows an interest in anything in particular small world wise there?

I'd also start small and secondhand, I thought DS would like Sylvanian families as he likes animals. Couldn't have cared less! But I bought on Facebook so was easy enough to sell on.

Try and appeal to her interests and experiences. If she’s not interested in farms or never been to one/read any books about them/seen programmes about them, she’s not going to know what to do with any farm figures.
If she’s been to the zoo a lot or loves animals, then the Playmobil zoo set would be a good one. My Dd also loved the playground set and the children’s nursery.
My DN spent a lot of his early childhood in hospital, so he was obsessed by the playmobil hospital. He also had the cruise ship set after his family went on a cruise! My other DN is very into sci-fi so he preferred the space ship sets.

Thank you both, really helpful! She does enjoy looking after her baby doll and sometimes plays with some little maileg mice we have, so perhaps a doll's house for them would be best and some bits for the baby. I'll have to resist getting the ridiculously overpriced maileg furniture

She's into dinosaurs at the moment so will try and build on that too.

Feel like I've done something wrong in not managing to get her into the playing properly she's always been more about people games like me chasing her around pretending to be a wicked witch but I can't do that all the time so need to get her into something more sustainable!

twilight just noticed you mentioned dinosaurs too, what does your DS have that he plays with outside of the usual little dinosaur models?

Does she like Peppa? The little Peppa figures and the bits and pieces you can get were very well loved in my house. The aeroplane is incredibly robust. She might find small world play easier with established characters.

fivemoreminutes ahh the playmobil sets look fab! Thank you!

Great point orange, she's never got into peppa but you're right that established characters would be a good way 'in,' so I'll have a think about that.

My LG is about to turn 4 and has only really started playing with her toys in the last few months. The kitchen and dolls house she got for previous birthdays are now much loved. I was worried she wasn't playing like other kids too. This birthday I have been told by her exactly what she wants (mainly plastic tat and little collectables) so no such worries now! I found that a shopping trolly with play food was the first thing she started playing with at that age. She also loves happytown figures and buildings.

@littlestrawby we just have some cheap dinosaurs but he's getting schleich ones for Christmas.

They are all different so it might not be her thing. My twin brother never did much small world play and he's now a support worker for vulnerable children so very empathetic!

Also worth bearing in mind that some kids are different from others and they all play differently.

Out of my 3, 2 are very naturally into this kind of play and have loved sylvanians and playmobil type stuff since before they turned 2. Both been happy to play independently for a good while with this type of stuff. My middle child just doesn't do this by nature. She's got other things she prefers and operates best with adult input. As she's got bigger she does sometimes do small world play with her big sister but her attention span for it is short as it's not natural to her.

I'd focus on getting her stuff you know she'll like rather than trying to impose interests on her.

Thanks all, food for thought. I feel like I've done her a disservice somehow for not managing to get her into this stuff (and admittedly after lots and lots of wicked witch chasing I do resort to tv more often than I'd like...!) but maybe that's just how she's built. Lots of great suggestions to look into though :)

Happyland all the way!

If she can be trusted with small parts, I'd recommend proper Playmobil rather than Playmobil 123, Happyland, etc. My DD liked those toys but never played with them for very long - there's only so much you can do with (e.g.) a few farm animals, a farmer and building. But we got her the "proper" Playmobil take-along vet for her 3rd birthday and she plays with that for ages - different customers and animals coming in and out, different treatments, care, food, etc. She then asked to spend her birthday money on another Playmobil set!

And just to echo @Twilightstarbright's point - we started off playing with it with her, to show all her that she could do with it, but now she does it independently.

I would make a dinosaur garden with mini plants or you could get small fake plants and some sand and stones in a big tray. Schleich do some dinosaur playset like caves and a big Volcano.

Does she had any duplo? That's quite a nice one as you can help her build it and maybe she will then be encouraged to play with it.

There are some beautiful play dough sets one Etsy which might help. Sensory play type stuff with dinosaurs so they have brown playdough and 'dirt' sand etc