Playmobil - what do kids do with it, and at what age??

[Mo2]

DS1 (aged almost 3) has started shouting "I want that" at all the Xmas Playmobil ads on TV - specifically the Pirate ship....
I had a look at it in the toyshop and thought perhaps he is a bit young for it.
I'm not at all familiar with the Playmobil range - what's the whole 'idea' behind it - is it simply little 'play models' (i.e. not construction like Lego?) and what do your kids do with it (and from what sort of age?).

DS1 (3 1/2) plays with the pirate ship at nursery - it features in his report book every week! I think it's for imaginative play.

Mo2, our ds (3 yrs old) got a whole load of Playmobil stuff for his birthday and he loves it. They are very realistic and well made toys which have lots of interactive bits and pieces (some very small and annoying). ds loves opening the doors, attaching fire hoses etc etc.
However, if you get some of the bigger stuff for your ds (that is if you can find any left in the shops now) my top tip would be to carefully open the box before you wrap it up for Chrismas and construct the toy to save alot of stress and grief on the morning. Although they come largely made there are lots of little bits and pieces to add and 3 year olds are now known for their patience!

Playmobil is great! My ds (3) plays with his older brother's galleon, and though it's not the pirate one it does have many tiny bits (like cannon balls) which need carefully collecting up after a session in the bath or elsewhere. Like train sets they are toys which develop and grow, and you can add bits to depending on what phase they're going through. For his 3rd birthday he was given a yellow taxi - very simple to put together and he's had loads of fun with it. Somehow the treasure chest from the galleon ends up in the boot. He can't wait to get his hands on his brother's Playmobil skiiers and bike racers too.
They are good quality toys that will last for a long time and are very adaptable, but they do have fiddly bits that can get lost. I'd say 3 is the right age to start, just insist on all the bits staying together!

My sons (just 4 and nearly two) play with it for hours. We got our first bit for ds1's 3rd birthday and he loved it then and still plays with it just as much a year on. It is great stuff, everything about it is great, your ds will honestly just love it. If you think some of the bits are a bit small for now, you could always put them away in a box and get them out in 6 months. He will have just as much fun playing with the rest.

I'd endorse Playmobil as a good toy for three plus. Ds has a fire engine and some street cleaners and builders and really enjoys imaginative play with them. The builders came with a Portaloo which both of us find completely hilarious. I also think it is good value, given the quality of the manufacture. Little single figures with accessories make good stocking fillers at £2.95 or so.

I'd agree with everything here, although my two are 5 and 7 and still love it - it features heavily on both christmas wish lists again this year. Well worth what seems expensive at first sight, although we haven't bought any of the really big sets. Keep it all in a big box with lid to avoid losing bits and be prepared for half an hour's fiddling in order to put sets together. Go buy it now!!

oh, oh....

my dp (who's 32) loves it and I've bought her a new playmobil toy for just about every Christmas/birthday for the past 9 years...

Now we've got a 1 year old ds I'd better tell her it looks like she's only got about another couple of years before she's going to have to share...!!

Our ds aged 4 1/2 has had a few odd sets/figures and he finds it great for role playing. They seem to integrate well with other action figures such as the McDonalds "freebies".He is desperate for Santa to bring him the Pirate Ship (the Elves already have it in hand!)but we understand that assembly is fiddly so any advice please. We also have a Playmobil Advent Calendar which is great as it assembles into a scene - but also took a while to set up!

My only concern is that some of the bits are really small and we also have a 15 month old. She will play with them too if given a chance. We're also fans of Play Family/Little People but Playmobil is now that bit more exciting for ds.

LizS

Yup, Playmobil is a huge hit in our house. Our son is into imaginative play in a big way and his favourite toy is his Playmobil castle which he got for his third birthday. (It does take about an hour to put together.) He has stacks of 'little people' and though you can't construct and re-construct like you can with Lego, there are enough bits to move around to create games with forever. The little sets and individual figures are great for other people to give, or for extra little 'star chart' rewards (or for the hoover if you don't look fast enough ...). Don't know the pirate ship as we bought a cheaper model before when he was in a Peter Pan phase but too young for Playmobil. We did have a couple of scary moments when my dd (then a baby) seemed to have swallowed something but the only thing that ever went through was a bright red mushroom (easy to spot in the nappy, that one!). You do need care with babies, though - the stuff is so tempting.
Still, she's bigger now and guess what Santa's got lined up for this year? Yeah, more Playmobil ... (They have a good website too, for the more obscure bits - and fast delivery.)

Our local nursery school has a drop in family room where you can bring very young children to play, meet other mums etc. Obviously the whole room is geared up to under 3s so the toys have to be aimed at that age.

I find it interesting that they have a lot of toys there that aren't supposed to be for under 3s according to the box but the kids play with fine - Playmobil is one of them (although I imagine they've been quite selective in avoiding putting the smaller pieces out) and ds (19mths) loves playing with the little people and putting them down the Playmobil slide.

I probably wouldn't buy ds a set of his own quite yet, but if he ends up getting a few bits for Christmas I probably wouldn't bother putting them away for when he's older but would supervise his play with them.

Message withdrawn

It would - it's great isn't it