Playmobil, Happyland or other? 4yo and 18mo DDs

[Butterpiecrimearea]

We have recently realised that the girls don't really have any "little people" type toys. They have baby dolls, but they are obviously relatively big, and DD1 has started walking her fingers along castles made of her wooden blocks, and doing the voices, so I think we're ready for playmobil or something.

We're hoping to get something we can add to as the years go on, and ideally something that we don't need to hide from DD2, but will still be played with as the girls get bigger.

As far as I can see, our options are playmobil, lego, duplo or happyland. Have I missed any? What are the pros and cons of each?

We already have various toy cars, an airport set from happyland (not sure where the people are though), an elc farm set and a small box of lego, as well as baby dolls and teddies. DD1 is quite imaginative and likes to play at fairytales, greek myths and yellow submarine/Harry Potter (and has a morbid side), DD2 loves animals and babies, and both of them are quite rowdy and love drawing, if any of that is relevant.

I wouldn't go for Happyland (even though I have a big box of it to sell!) with older children because it's limited in what you can 'do' with it. With Lego (and Playmobil to a certain extent I think) you can change the clothes, swap the heads/bodies etc so it makes it more interactive.

It's a bit overtly girly which may not suit, but what about the elc rosebud stuff?

Or how about kights/fairytale/animal stuff like these papo toys?

How old are your DD's? My DS is nearly three and has shedloads of happyland which he still likes playing with, but I wouldn't see it having much longer term play value so wouldn't buy anymore now.

Duplo is a big hit here and DS will quite happily play away with it, acting out little stories etc. I think it fits with regular sized lego as well once they're a bit older.

Playmobil and lego might have to be hidden out of the way of your DD2 depending on how old she is (playmobil in particular seems to have lots of very little bits).

DD1 is 4yo, DD2 is 18mo.

Thanks for all the tips, I'm busy researching away :) Trying to avoid too much pinkyness, but would like something that can allow for the odd bit of pink/girlyness as we don't want to exactly ban it...

Happy browsing!

I would say that Lego is a totally different toy to the others.

DD loved Happyland as a toddler and preschooler. She played with it a lot and spent many an hour lost in imaginativ play. She had a lot of it. It is very hard wearing and has a good resale value afterwards too.

DD's friend had Little People things which he played with a bit too. IMO though they seemed less hard wearing and sturdy and I personally prefer the people from happyland than the weeble type Little People ones.

Playmobil looks good and we have a few bits from the calendars, but no other sets. It is aimed at older children than Happyland and Little People though. By the time DD grew out of Happyland she wanted Sylvanian Families, so we went that route rather than Playmobil, which she still loves now at 9y.

DD has never really gotten into Lego. She has some and has had since being quite young, but it is not played with much at all.

Just seen ages - I would say that the 4y is at the top end for Happlyland and LittlePeople - they are more from toddler age, usch as your DD2's age.

Playmbil is fab! But although suitable for a 4 year old, it does have a lot of samll parts, which aren't so good for toddlers. However, they also do Playmobil 123 which is suitable for 18 months + and doesn't contain small parts, so this could be ideal to start with.

I was just going to suggest playmobil 1 2 3 too. My dds are 6 and 3 and both love normal playmobil now, but it has such tiny pieces that it wouldn't be any good for your younger one.

I found a good sale on happyland, so we went for that. It is working a treat - DD1 does all the voices and invents elaborate games, and even DD2 puts the figures in the cars etc and drives them round, then chews them, so, all in all, happyland is a hit :)

Ah well, I'm sure they will get into Playmobil soon...........