staceyobu Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I'm considering getting a set for my 3 year old for Christmas. Every time I ask for gift ideas on here, everyone says "PLAYMOBIL!" Then, I go look at the sets and they don't look like much? But, it's worth it, right? She'll love it, right? Which set would you start with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Playmobil must be made of magic, 'cause I don't get it either, but kids loooove it. Ours are 4 and 6 yo boys, so I can't help with girlie stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 We got a couple sets for my dd and although she has played with it a little, she told me she wanted to give it away. She has never really enjoyed it and neither have my boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Playmobil and Lego are practically all my kids have played with for the last 5 years. There is just something about both that invites imaginative play, and that is how my kids play best. Toys that can only be played with a certain way or already have a defined purpose don't hold their interest. They always preferred just having a big box of bricks and wheels and people, to having Lego sets that are suppsoed to be specific things. They create their own worlds. And even though Playmobil looks more defined (Ancient Rome, Egypt, a hospital, etc.), my kids created their own characters with the Playmobil people and the houses and such and made up long involved stories with them. The other thing that gets a lot of play time here are building materials- magnetic building sets, Lincoln Logs, wooden blocks. Anyway, listing all that as an example, if that helps you figure out how your kids like to play and if they would play with Playmobil. I think Playmobil is fun myself. The attention to detail is amazing, and I love the history themed sets. But one caveat is that Playmobil sets have 1 million tiny pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 For a 3 year old, maybe the zoo set if she likes animals. I haven't looked at it in years, so I don't know what's out there right now. We have so many sets that we haven't bought more in a long time. But what we started with was the zoo set for my then 3 year old, the hospital for my then 6 year old, and the princess castle for my then 5 year old. My kids ended up playing with the Viking sets the most, because they love making up personalities for all the long bearded viking guys. LOL. I know the school sets are popular with a lot of younger kids, but I don't know if homeschooled kids would find them as interesting. I think the houses look awesome, I always wanted to get one and deck it out with tiny appliances and furniture and decor, but my kids weren't interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I know the school sets are popular with a lot of younger kids, but I don't know if homeschooled kids would find them as interesting. I think the houses look awesome, I always wanted to get one and deck it out with tiny appliances and furniture and decor, but my kids weren't interested. My five y/o, who has never been to school, is enthralled with the school set in the catalog. "What is this place? Can we go there some time?" :laugh: My boys love the police station, car, and helicopter, and the ambulance. They are in the middle of opening the advent calendar now and are having fun with the tiny badgers, crows, rats, and cauliflower. :rofl: My two y/o likes the little kid forest set with the chunky people, trees, and animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I hate play mobile. Putting it together is intense. But guess what it comes apart. You can't do story play if you've taken it apart. So mom has to spend time putting it together again or it just doesn't get used. And you can't help taking it apart. If you storm a castle, you must wreck it. And having some kind of fight or war is the best thing to imagine. If you have a police station, you have to break out. There's even an earthquake scenario for the house and grocery store. I love Legos. The actual building is part of the play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinmom Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 My 13 year old is still asking for specific Playmobil horse sets for Christmas, if you can believe that! Kids really get into them. Between my four kids, we have an embarrassing number of Playmobil sets strewn throughout the house!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I hate play mobile. Putting it together is intense. But guess what it comes apart. You can't do story play if you've taken it apart. I love Legos. The actual building is part of the play. This isn't our experience at all. I spend no time playing with Playmobil but my kids play with it for hours setting up all kinds of stories. We have bought very few big pieces b/c I think they would get in the way of the fun. The big pieces take up so much room, and they are expensive. My 10yo dd likes the house stuff. My 8yo ds likes the castle and police stuff. My 6yo ds likes the wild and African animals. My 4yo dd likes the horses and little kids. My 2yo ds likes the motorcycles and vehicles. Mostly my kids love any of the people and their accessories and any animals. We have Legos, but my kids rarely play with them. They go in spurts with Legos (like one or two days/month), but Playmobil sees daily play here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 We are Playmobil junkies here. Our playmobil has it's own room, and we have several complete sets such as pirates, western, circus and castle. With 5 children, I feel like we have gotten our money's worth. Definitely played with every single day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMamaBird Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I asked this question a few weeks back about our 4 year old son. We bought him a small castle for Christmas and we'll see how he likes it then. We did get him and his sister each a Playmobil Advent Calender and it has been a tremendous hit! The parts are quite small so we had to set some serious ground rules about storage and baby safety, but they LOVE them! They play together with them for hours during quiet time, the silence has been glorious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Playmobil addicts here. DS loves all things Playmobil. Hours and hours of fun. I wouldn't call it quiet fun because he's got to talk through all of his play, narrating stories and adding sound effects, but hours and hours of play time. One add on gift that goes great with Playmobil here - and I can see a 3 year old girl adoring with/without Playmobil - play silks! If you have some already, pull them out... blue becomes an ocean, green is a grassy pasture, you get the idea. If you don't have any, they would make a great gift for a girl her age. You can order them from Dharma Trading and dye them with food coloring (I did this yesterday, actually). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Y'all have convinced me. I think I'll grab some from ebay after the holidays. We don't celebrate Christmas and I'd hate to bid on and win an auction someone was counting on for their kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I bought our first Playmobile for this Christmas. I'm not sure how popular they will be so I just bought the Fairy Princess and Unicorn set and a couple small extra for my youngest. My son is more into Legos and he's getting a HUGE collection of mini-figs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 My son was four, nearly five, when I got him the playmobil nativity. I was amazed at how good he was with it. He aboslutely loves it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinF Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 My oldest son got his first playmobil set when he was 4. He is now 13 and we have 3 more boys. They play with either LEGOs and/or Playmobil every day. They make elaborate sets and battles with them. I will agree that many of the larger pieces (castle and ships) are harder to keep together but I find that the boys just make adjustments and new sets this way. If we had a daughter I would totally invest in a castle or playmobil doll house. For the younger boys (about 2-3) we even had some playmobil 123 that they loved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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