 |
Lego Duplo 5633 Polar Zoo
by KLockwood75
As mentioned in previous reviews, we have a fairly extensive collection of Duplo. A lot of this has been passed down to my children by their older cousins and all is very well played with. Due to the sheer amount of Duplo in our house, we don't tend to buy a lot of the newer sets (appealing though they are), but my daughter has received ... a few of the smaller sets as presents in the last year or so. Many of these seem to feature animals, probably because she adores her regular visits to London Zoo with her grandparents. Penguins have long been a particular favourite of my little girl, she can spend ages watching them waddle round the edge of the pool or swim gracefully through the water, so it was no real surprise when she received the Lego Duplo 5633 Polar Zoo set.
* The Product *
Lego Duplo 5633 Polar Zoo is one of the mid-sized sets from the Lego Zoo range. A quick look on the Lego site suggests that it is possibly not part of their newest range, but it is still widely available from other retailers. The box contains an assortment of different shaped blocks in shades of blue, white, grey, red and an icy-looking transparent blue (obviously meant to be the ice that the polar animals need). Alongside the traditionally shaped Duplo blocks, there is a tunnel slide consisting of three separate pieces which can be easily clipped together and a couple of fences. However, it is the figures in the box which really appeal to my little girl - these consist of a female zookeeper, a 'Mummy and Baby' polar bear and, her personal favourite, two penguins. The final element in the box is a big fish which the zookeeper can hold / throw to the animals for a tasty snack. Like all Duplo sets, the quality of the pieces in the box is fantastic and exactly what you would expect from this brand.
* Playability *
The blocks can be assembled in whatever way the child chooses to build their Penguin and Polar Bear pool. We are lucky enough to have a base plate with a pool on it, so my daughter tends to use that to construct her enclosure. At the moment, it seems to be a fairly high rise construction with the height of the slide requiring the penguins to make a daring splash into the pool, but it is also possible to design a more low-rise enclosure with a shorter slide. Obviously, like all Duplo sets, you can add other bricks from your collection to extend and enhance the models. I feel that this set is particularly good in conjunction with other animal-based sets from the Duplo range - we have a range of different animals (including a T-Rex!) and my daughter likes to create her own zoo, although she is not particularly keen on fencing the animals in. She also uses the zoo animals with the Duplo railway to make a 'Zoo Train'.
Overall, I think the playability of the Polar Zoo is excellent for a mid-range set. It has enough figures and blocks to be played with as a standalone toy, and integrates well with other parts of the range. The pieces are all well made and the smooth, yet chunky, design of the animals makes them the perfect size for a young child's hands. Putting the pieces together is great for the development of fine motor skills and the possibilities for imaginative play and creation of small world scenarious are endless, especially when used in conjunction with other sets. In my opinion, children of different ages are likely to play with this set very differently - at 18 months my daughter would have just moved the animals around and possibly put a couple of blocks together whereas now, at just three, she uses the set for her imaginative play with the creation of ever-changing enclosures, re-enacting the feeding time she has seen on her zoo visits and even bringing 'visitors' along to enjoy the show. And, in true three year old style, her enjoyment of playing with this set is not limited to the Duplo itself, the penguins have also been spotted visiting her doll family in their house and having a go on the slide in her Rosebud tree-house. They have also been out for a ride in her scooter bag on the school run - such an exciting life that they lead!
* Price and Purchasing *
Currently, Duplo 5633 Polar Zoo is available for £24.95 on Amazon but, as it doesn't seem to be part of the current range, it may not be around for too long.
* Final Thoughts *
This is a lovely set and one that I would definitely recommend. It works just as well as a play-set in its own right as it would as an add-on to one of the larger Duplo Zoo sets. The slide is a feature that I haven't seen in any other Duplo sets and the animals are very cute. I do think that the main reason that my daughter loves it so much is the affection that she feels towards the penguins (the polar bears are not quite so popular), but I think liking penguins is fairly common amongst the pre-school age group anyway. Overall, this is an extremely well made product which encourages children to use their fine motor skills, be creative and stimulates imaginative play, all things that I appreciate in a toy. I think that this is going to be a favourite in our collection for some time to come.
Read the complete review |
 |
Lego Duplo 6785: Creative Cakes
by taramorg23
My little girl is a huge fan of Duplo in the past few months it has been her favourite thing to play with. She calls it her 'build', she is also a fan of her tea set and loves to make us tea so when this was recommended to me on Amazon I knew it would be perfect for her 2nd Birthday.
The box is aimed at children 2-5 years old. ... Another reason I like this box is that it came with a decent amount of bricks 55 to be exact which is a lot more than what you get in other boxes for the same price.
As with all Duplo blocks they are compatible with Lego so if you have an older child or when your child gets older they will fit together.
When I viewed this online I thought the box would be reusable, however it is just a cardboard box with a plastic lid. I did reuse it a few times however my daughter like most toddlers has bashed it around a fair bit and it has now had to go in the recycling bin. The lid however has been kept as it doubles up as a cake tray.
Inside the box you get a selection of normal shaped Duplo box but in colours such as mint green, brown and pink, you also get meringues, cake cases, blocks that look like the top of cakes, flowers and finally 3 candles. The blocks are the perfect size for little hands and are easy to put together and take apart.
When my daughter opened this on her birthday last week she immediately got stuck in, we made several different cakes ranging from cupcakes to slices of cake in all different colours. We also stuck the candles on the cakes and sung Happy Birthday while my daughter pretended to blow the candles out. We were all then served slices of cake by her on the tray along with a cup of tea. She has also built big towers with the blocks and added them to other sets she already has.
The great thing about this set is that it has massively grown out collection of Duplo. It is a great toy that encourages creativity as the possibilities are endless, there are so many different types of cakes that can be created.
Read the complete review |
|
|
Lego 6152 Duplo Snow White's Cottage
by taramorg23
My daughter received this for Christmas and we have since added Sleeping Beauty and Ariel to the collection. I got this on offer in Smyths just before christmas for £10 instead of the usual £15.
The Duplo comes in a cardboard box which once opened is no use afterwards to store the Duplo in so for this reason we bought a ... separate storage box too.
The set is only small you get about 25 pieces. The set includes Snow White, a white rabbit, table and chairs as well as a window and some other bricks to build a small cottage.
Disney Duplo is for ages 2-5 and eventually it is compatible with Lego when your child is older. The blocks in this set are bright and chunky so perfect for little hands. The colours are pretty pinks, purples, greens and yellows which are perfect for little Princesses.
When we first opened this my daughter immediately picked up Snow White. She has a little skirt which can be removed and my daughter likes to dress and undress her for some reason! In the box you get a little instruction booklet inside this book it gives you other ideas to build different things with the blocks such as an oven for Snow White to cook on and a little garden scene.
The blocks fit together easily and they stay together if the build item is moved around, we previously had Mega Blocks but my daughter got annoyed when she tried to move them and they fell apart. Duplo is more robust. The possibilites with this set arw wndless, my daughter builds all sorts of shapes she has just turned two so she is a little small to build the set as in the instructions but with help from Mummu we do it together.
This is a lovely set my only complaint is at full price it is overpriced for the amount of blocks that you get. I would recommend buying another set even just a simple box for extra pieces.
It is very pretty however and my daughter loves Disney we watch the films frequently. We have since collectes a few more sets and this is played with daily.
Read the complete review |
