I have to be honest and say that I have avoided buying them for the last few years as I did buy one small set when she was about 2 years old . There was a baby, cot/playpen type thing, little chair, drawers and some accessories - it must have been a set for a nursery room thinking about it. It was very cute, there is no denying that but within a week all the bits had been lost, I have no idea where. I keep a tidy house but they were never to be seen again. As they are not the cheapest toys on the market I have been avoiding them since.
I think I can now say that at age 5 Miss E is big enough to be trusted with all the little bits and pieces again. A couple of weeks ago we received the Sylvanian Families campervan and chocolate Labrador family for her to play with and she has been so happy. Completely delighted and enthralled with the play set, it has genuinely provided hours of play and the little brown doggies have made friends with her dolls and the campervan goes to visit her dolls house and they all have tea together. I do love a toy that can be added to other things and the play experience extended. The beauty of small imaginations - play is limitless.
What surprised me most is that my other twin Miss M has also been playing with the set, she is normally very easily bored and does not really 'play' much despite my best efforts but I think because the figures we have are labrador dogs that has been enough to engage her and she has named one of them Archie, which is the name of Nanny H's labrador.
I have often wondered if the figures would stand up to being played with. I see they are covered in a soft kind of felt-like fur and I assumed that when you scratched them it would come away but I was wrong. The figurines seem really durable, the limbs can move, the clothes can come on and off and they do seem sturdy, which is great as a set of 4 like we received is £16.00 at the Entertainer.
The campervan retails for £39.99 and comes with lots of little extras so you can have fun playing. I do always think it is a shame though that the Sylvanian Families playsets do not ever seem to include a figure/ character to play with. You have to buy those separately. That would be my only negative about these products.
I was really pleased with how easy the figures and the campervan were to remove from the packaging, some toys nowadays seemed to be literally screwed into the box but not so with these. The campervan was also easy to set up and required no adult intervention, my 9 year old did it by himself.
It is suggested that Sylvanian families toys are suitable for children aged 4 - 12 years. But I have to say that they are a toy I'm happy to join in and play with and yes I am a tad older than 12. I think the issue I may have now in the future, is to curb my desire to buy more cute little animals and I have just spotted there is a canal boat and tree house! oh dear.
I snapped a few pictures of the campervan set up for play, take a peek -
We are happy to recommend the Sylvanian Families campervan and Chocolate Labrador Family and give them a 5/5 for play value.
Disclosure: We received the toys free of charge for the purposes of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.
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Thanks for your comment, I will respond real soon. Mich x