My little ones received their first piece of Early Learning Centre (ELC) Happyland for their 1st birthday and I really liked the look of it and thought it was something they would enjoy playing with when they were a bit older, so when it was time to start Christmas shopping I had a look at what else there was in the range. It is an extensive range but did seem expensive so I waited until ELC had a sale on, this narrowed down the options and one of the pieces I decided on was this Fairy Castle.

Packaging
The castle was tied into a cardboard box with those long pieces of wires which seem to take forever to untwist. You can see the item clearly in the box as it is open fronted so there is no surprise as to how girly pink it is! Once you have removed the castle from the box it's ready to play with.

The Castle
As with all the Happyland pieces we have there is lots of detail for your little one to take in. Both of my girls are attracted by the opening doors and love to see how quickly they can remove them, normally only seconds. They are replaceable but as they only remove them again I no longer bother and it doesn't detract from the appearance of the castle too much it having no doors.
The windows on the castle are a mixture of hearts and heart flowers and the castle has molded plastic vines and conifers adding some green to the mainly pink castle. When the castle is closed there is access to the balcony which the included figures can be stood on and they can also be stood on the roof. This is where most of the figures normally end up as they like to see how many they can squash in.
A small tower on the side of the castle is used to open the castle up and your little one has a whole new playing area. This includes an upstairs area at the back of the balcony and a stair case.
I find that the castle is much sturdy for play when it is closed as whenever it is played with open it ends up falling over and Happyland looks like it has been hit by a hurricane!
Unlike all the other Happyland pieces we have this one doesn't have any sound effects which I think is a shame as my 2 really enjoy the sounds the other pieces make.

Playing accessories
Included with the castle for your little one to play with are 4 figures, king, queen, princess and jester. 2 thrones, although it is quite hard to fit the figures into these and at nearly 2 my little ones still need help with this. Also included is a royal bed with canopy, this is much easy for little fingers to lay a figure on whilst playing. I like that this toy has the potential for imaginative play to develop as they get older and they no longer need me to make up scenarios for them.

Price and Availability
This Fairy Castle is £25 but is currently half price in the sale with free standard delivery, I think £12.50 is a great price for this. I paid £20 last year but it included the Happyland carriage worth £12.50 for free.

Would I recommend?
Yes, it is a lovely addition to our Happyland collection despite it being unstable when open. It's worth waiting for a sale before buying as I think it is overpriced at full price. Little ones will love playing with the figures and if they like pink this is the castle for them.