Ordinarily I would not be overjoyed to receive two very large packages of stuff when I am trying to reduce the amount of stuff we have ahead of a house move but it was the first week of our school holidays and these boxes contained Fisher Price Little People: the Little People® Disney® Princess Songs Palace and the Little People® Happy Sounds Home™ to be exact, and they made me very happy indeed. And my children of course.
In the past we have owned Little People Farm, Ark and Garage, all of which were much loved and played with (the garage not so much but that’s because it was impossible to fit together properly despite following the instructions.) But one by one they moved on- to our childrens’ nursery mostly, and with much sorrow on my part for I adored the Farm in particular- to make space for the pink that has been invading my life for the last three years.
It transpires that Fisher-Price is launching a brand new look to its Little People characters & playsets, making them even more magical for little explorers with big imaginations, and the houses that we received are no exception. There are endless opportunities for your little ones- and I include my five-year-old in this- to explore, discover and create whole worlds in our sitting room with the houses that we have. The characters are very tactile and easy for children to grasp: I love the friendly facial features and the quirky design. I regularly find them in my handbag when we go out for the day.
And the Happy Sounds House is fabulous, with all the details you would expect from a house, as well as some fabulous extras: a loo that makes a flushing sound, a boiling pan on the hob, a phone that rings and a welcome tune, for example. The House was terribly easy to construct, despite needing a screwdriver, and was easy to extract from it’s packaging. Three little people live in the house: a mother, father and baby. They come with their own car to park in the garage, a baby bath, a family table and extra fence pieces to allow you to join the house onto other products in the little people range. If I were really picky, I would say that I rather wish that the house came with a dog or cat: a family pet to make the family house complete. But that truly is my only complaint.
The Disney Princess Castle is definitely aimed at the older age range for Fisher Price toys and therefore perfect for my young five-year-old. The characters are exactly as they look in Disney films, but with Fisher Price proportions. Part of the reason for that is that they have a very clever internal mechanism, so that when you put a Princess onto the base in the centre of the dancefloor, you hear the Princess talk to you. It totally blew our minds, I tell you. A brilliant innovation. The castle has all the whistles and bells that you would expect: flags and turrets, furniture for our princesses, musical sounds and a revolving dance floor that makes it appear like the princesses are dancing. The set came with two princesses and I understand you can add to your collection by buying extra princesses and princes. Obviously I will be investing in a few shortly.
Where I do have complaints is with the packaging. It took some time, and some force to get the pieces out of the box, and the construction was by no means as simple as with the house. I needed two screwdrivers to do the job, which took about thirty minutes. This would have been fine, though annoying, had I not been sitting in the hallway with both children at my feet desperate for me to finish it so that they could play. You then had to embellish the house with stickers before finally realising that batteries- included with the happy sounds house, were a necessary extra which I had to go out and purchase. It was a frustrating experience.
Of course after a few days I see the joy in my daughters’ faces when they play, fusing the princess and family world to create some big magical kingdom with their own rules and plans. And it all makes it worthwhile.
To see what other family bloggers thought about the Fisher Price Little People….Big Discoveries products, please join in the Twitter party on Friday 2nd August between 11am-12noon with the hashtag #FPLittlePeople For further information on Fisher Price products, check out their website: www.fisher-price.co.uk
And check out the other reviews:: Trouble Doubled :: Five’s A Fellowship ::
How can I become a tester, I’ve always got something to say every time one of my kids get a new toy
Thanks
I was approached because of my blog Emma: perhaps you should start one talking about the products that you already own and build up a readership that way. Companies are always interested in honest reviews by people who have good content, a good following and good writing. If you are interested I’m happy to talk to you further via email.