When I was shopping for Christmas presents last year for my 3 year old daughter, I was not really sure what to buy, but whilst browsing the Boots website on their 3 for 2 offers I saw this Peppa Pig World of Playsets - boasting a 6 in 1 playset that also stacks together, with 1 Peppa figure included. Priced at £29.99 I thought it would be an impressive set and with my daughter being a Peppa fan I decided to buy it.

When it arrived I was disappointed to say the least at the size of it; the box was quite big but once inside, the house seemed positively tiny and I was wondering how big the other 'houses' were that were stacked inside the main house! Well I can tell you, for £29.99, you really do not get a lot for your money.

***The Houses***

*House One*

The main house I presume is Peppa's family home, it is yellow and stands at approximately 33cm tall. The front section is hinged and opens out to reveal the other houses/shops inside; once you take these out you are left with an empty shell of a house - the depth is 4cm so there is not a lot of room for a child to actually 'play' with Peppa and any other Peppa figures they may have. There are no levels in the house apart from a flap midway up on each side of the opening parts which form some sort of second floor, but again these are only 4cm in depth (and only about 10cm wide) so it is difficult for a child to get any real play out of it. There are stickers on the inside of the house to show where the kitchen would be and the bedrooms etc, but apart from that there is not a lot to go on. The door also opens, but this is only just wide enough for a Peppa figure to fit through and I think if you have a Mummy Pig or a Daddy Pig there is no way they will fit through this door.

*House Two*

I think this house is the Doctors surgery; it house stands at approximately 22cm tall, so over 10cm smaller than the main house; the front section also opens out to reveal another empty shell of a house. Inside are stickers showing some cabinets, a waiting room and some boxes of toys; the door also opens (as narrow as the previous door). The depth once opened is 3cm, so even less space to play.

*Houses Three, Four and Five*

These 3 houses are the cafe, toy shop, and playroom and are different to the two main houses - these do not have hinged parts which open out, they are just as if you have taken a building and sliced it down the middle. They all have stickers inside to show what they are but the decor is very minimalistic and as they are all quite small I struggle to see how a child can get any real fun or pleasure from them. The cafe is 15cm tall, the toy shop 12cm and the playroom 9.5cm tall. And because they are not very deep they are not very stable when you stand them all up, so if a child is heavy handed with their Peppa figures then they may end up knocking these houses over, which does happen when my kids play with it.

*House Six*

This is Peppa's doll's house and it is tiny and useless. At 6cm tall and a solid block, there is nothing a child can do with this apart from look at it.

***My Daughter's Reaction***

She has never been thrilled with this playset, and as much as I try I cannot really get to her to play with it as much as I would have liked. Don't get me wrong she has played with it on occasion, but it is mainly if I thrust it in her face and order her to play. I think the problem she has is that, as I said above, the houses are unstable and there is not a lot of room inside each building for her to play with her Peppa characters effectively. Also I feel that they don't really provide a lot to go on, they are just empty plastic shells which don't really spark off her imagination. Even my 5 year old who will create imaginative play out of almost anything, does not get a great deal from this toy. She gets frustrated with the houses falling over and struggles to find anything interesting to do with them. The most I have seen her do is place a different character in each building and then move onto something else. It does help if you have other Peppa Pig toys, and then this playset adds to the whole play experience, but to be honest these buildings are often left empty when my kids are playing. Over the years my children have acquired the train, car, campervan, school and the park playsets, and they also have numerous characters, but they have never had a Peppa house, so I thought this would be a welcome addition. However, they much prefer these other items to the house playset, and despite me getting everything out this morning and setting all the buildings out in a row, they still went straight for the train, school and parks, but the houses and buildings were left untouched.

***Disappointing***

Disappointing is a bit of an understatement when trying to describe this toy. I feel completely let down by the toy manufacturers; they seem to have come up with a great idea and then really not tried hard enough to create a great toy that kids will love. As usual, if it's got the Peppa Pig brand on it, it's guaranteed to sell regardless of what's in the box. They also only provided one figure with the playset which is a bit tight if you ask me, they could have at least provided two figures, Peppa & George perhaps so they child would at least have 2 figures to play with. But no, they expect you to buy the figure sets separately which are also extortionately priced! I think if the entire set had been a lot bigger with more features then it might have been more successful with my daughters, but as it is, it's pretty useless.

***Are There Are Good Things About The Toy***

The only positive thing I can think of with this toy is that it all stacks inside the main house, and as the main house is quite small, it does not take up a lot of room inside the toy box.

***Final Thoughts***

I do not recommend this Peppa Pig World Of Playsets, even if you have the biggest Peppa Pig fan in your house, I don't think they will get a lot of enjoyment from these plastic empty shell houses. But if after everything you have read, you still think your child might like it, then try to get the set on offer and do not pay £29.99 for it. It is currently on offer on Amazon for £21.25 and Tesco for £20, which is a much more reasonable price in my opinion (prices correct on 10/03/2012).