Which Playmobil set to start with?

[Ostryga]

Dd will be almost 5. Have looked at the large hospital and ambulance, but are there better sets out there? Complete newbie here and there’s bloody millions of the things!

Does she have any special interests or favourite games to play? Gd5 likes camping and the playground so they were the first two sets we bought, last Christmas she was mad about dogs so the pet Hotel was a huge hit (still is). She loves horses and school right now so they are future buys (I could kick myself as the large fully furnished school was on offer a few months ago for £40). The stable, farm, campervan, pool, police, spacestation and fire engine seem to be big hits on MN. I also like the wildlife adventure tree house *£42 amazon, its a good set with plenty to it, so many directions you could go with this, but I'd probably start with her current interests and build from there. Playmobil always on offer somewhere, and if you sign up to playmobils site you get 10% off, they have good bundles. You can get some good sets from Facebook, ebay etc too

I second the above.

I think things that they are familiar with and can 'act out' based on their own experiences go down well. Think that's why dolls and dolls houses are generally quite popular.

Things that are fun for them in real life will be fun for them to play with on a small scale. DD (5.5) likes the swimming pool sets and I've got her the big playground set for Christmas (is around £40 on Amazon but £30ish on some other sites).

I only found out about the school set a few weeks ago which I think she would love, so may get that for her next birthday!

DD also likes the vehicles so we have a car and a campervan because they need transporting from one place to another!

The take along house is a good first set, and it's quite compact if she doesn't like it.

I'd supplement it with random job lots of people and animals of Facebook and ebay.

DD is nearly 11 and still plays with hers. Tbh, they’re all good and you can’t really go wrong. The only thing is, if you get something like the big princess castle for Christmas, assemble it first as it takes ages and you don’t want to be faffing for hours on Christmas Day!

Same here - I went for a dinosaur/Volcano one for ds 3 and 2 sets which add up to the same for dd5: fairy unicorn and toddler playroom (she wants to be a babysitter when she's older).

The advent calenders look good too, and also just a tip if you are buying new - check the Playmobil website as I found it cheaper than Amazon. Also Smyths.

We got the ambulance and then the swimming pool when DD first got into Playmobil, at about same age. Often then influenced by what was reduced on Amazon and eventually we had loads!

There's a lovely advent calendar nativity one

Depends what they like. Its all good stuff and can combine pretty well. I found that mine didn't really play with the building when young - so the big hospital or house wasn't used much, they just played with the little bits and pieces on the floor.
Vehicles are always good so I would recommend the ambulance and helicopter, campervan or fire engine.

The nativity Set is lovely, we still get ours out every Christmas. Had to buy the Kings separately though!

We have a few of the sets - Zoo, Children's hospital, Caravan and they've had lots of play. But the one that has had the most play is the swimming pool as they played with it outside constantly over the Summer. I realise that's not particularly helpful for Christmas but for a birthday, maybe! My DD had the Advent calendar one year and that was lovely and the characters come out every Christmas.

Playmobil is absolutely brilliant. We've got sets from when I was a child as well as ones people have bought for the children.

There are so many options so definitely go with her interests as other people have suggested too.

The horse stables is very good, and there is a pet hotel and a vets that get used a lot at our house. If she's into fairies there is a sort of "magical world" series that is a lot of fun. But I prefer the real world stuff - fire engines, schools, even the petrol garage is great.

Anything that has water involved like boats or swimming pool/aquarium ones are good too.

I don't think you can go wrong really.

The tiny paws Hotel set and additional small animal and cat boarding sets are good, plus the vets if you have a child who loves animals or the pony farm.

Dd5 is after the preschool for Christmas

Go with their interest if they have one. Dd5 has the city hospital, ambulance and helicopter. She also has the Pony Farm. Ds6 has the farm and every available bit for it 🙈 and the police station, cars. Dd4 has the safari set. The farm is played with a lot and they all set it up so it’s like a village farm. They also have police chases where the injured go to hospital. Dd loves anything medical and started with that. Ds got the farm for his 3rd birthday and added to it as he always loved tractors, animals, farming. Dd4 is getting the fire station this Christmas as she asked for it and wants to be a firewoman. I really want them to ask for the Pyramid so I can play with it.

The camper van is an excellent first set.

Ds wants the castle for Christmas which looks very cool. The pirate ship is totally amazing!!

My 3 and 5 year old daughters have the school and school bus which they love and play with a lot. Only downside is it's huge so hard to store!! They also have a few mermaid and fairy bits which they mix in with schelich unicorns to play magical worlds. I am thinking of getting the zoo for them for Christmas.

DD was given the caravan when she was 3 as a birthday present. When we opened it we thought it was a weird gift as what 3 yr old wants a toy caravan but it was far and away her favourite present and has been consistently played with alongside her other Playmobil stuff. She's now 7 and still loves it.

Just been looking at the Ayumi range - looks amazing. I might be getting slightly more into Playmobil than the kids are.

@Callmecordelia

The take along house is a good first set, and it's quite compact if she doesn't like it.

I'd supplement it with random job lots of people and animals of Facebook and ebay.

I'd agree with this - we have the take along home set, and it's ideal. Easy for expansion as well, as you can build up playground/school etc. We've also bought some Christmas bits for ours (just from ebay) so that at Christmas time, Santa and his sleigh and other festive bits come out.