Review: Sylvanian Families Cosy Cottage & Chocolate Rabbit Twin Set

Miss E has liked Sylvanian families for a while now and she was over the moon when we were offered the Cosy Cottage to review. The RRP for this is £24.99 and I think that price is a really good deal

In the past I have found that many Sylvanian buildings come without anything inside, no furniture and no figures and it then becomes a bit expensive to buy the building and kit it out. I really liked that the Cosy Cottage comes with a starter pack of Freya chocolate rabbit, table and chairs, bench, cooker and accessories, bed and linen and ladder.

You can have the house as two storey or the top floor is removable and when turned over the wooden floor becomes green grass and it can go just outside as the garden or in the case of Miss E be used as the picnic area.

I was super surprised that when Miss E (age 7) got this out to play with her 10 year old brother came over and really wanted in on the action too, so they got the camper van set out and played that long lost cousins had come to visit. I do love a bit of good imaginative play and the Sylvanian families sets really lend themselves well to this.

In my experience the Sylvanian families toys are very good quality and are built to last, the plastic is not flimsy like with some toys and there is also really beautiful and detailed styling in the accessories that come with the sets. In this case it was saucepan, plate and food.

Another good feature about the cottage is that it can be connected to Maple Manor and Beechwood Hall if you choose to buy more and extend your collection.

As well as the cottage we also received chocolate rabbit twin set and considering my girls are twins they really loved this. You get two little tiny babies, a double pushchair and a few accessories like a dummy and bottle for £9.99. Freya the rabbit that came with our house must be over the moon to have twins, but where is her husband?

Great prizes to be won
There is also a fabulous competition running at the moment to win a wonderful Forest holiday worth £1000 and some super sylvanian families products. All you have to do is take a picture of your Sylvanian family characters enjoying their summer and submit it by the deadline of 31st August 2014. Take a look at their webiste for full details and the T&C's too.

Just look at these little guys enjoying their time on the beach!

Disclosure: We received these toys free of charge for the purpose of writing this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Sylvanian Families Campervan from The Entertainer

You know how some review opportunities make you more excited than others?  Well this was one of the ones that got me all fired up.  One of my little twinnies is forever on at me to let her have some Sylvanian families stuff, she has been nagging me for about three years now. Every time she spots them in a shop (mostly our local Entertainer branch) she tells me about how cute the little animal figures are and that she wants some for her birthday, Christmas or any other reason she thinks she might get away with.

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.