One of my favourite memories of our recent move was the fortuitous delivery of our latest Fisher-Price toys to review. With all the details and chaos of the move, I had neglected to provide my new address for shipping. When I saw a few people commenting about deliveries, my heart sunk. Oh, no, I thought. Now I’ve gone and done it. Two days before our move and no way to change things in time. I hoped they wouldn’t go astray being rerouted.
Well, imagine my surprise as we packed up the last items in the old house, got the kids ready to leave and suddenly heard the doorbell. There, on the step, was a courier, with large boxes for the kids. Oh, the excitement! And my enormous relief that they had arrived before we left! I signed for the delivery, and my husband moved the first box out to the truck, while the driver unloaded the last two and handed them over to be packed. We did a quick walk through of the house, locked up and drove away. Literally, we caught the delivery by about twenty minutes. Amazing!
My poor kids had to wait two whole days before we got into our new house and could unpack the boxes, but they were very happy to have two of them ready to open before the truck even delivered the rest of their toys. Oh, happy kids, happy mama. Moving is rough on kids, and having them engaged and busy made us all enjoy the time much more.
So what did they open first? Castles and palaces, of course! (Okay, we hid the third one away until we had unpacked enough boxes to have room for it.) Fisher-Price does a wonderful job of creating toys that match kids’ interests and development, and we were so pleased to have the opportunity to enjoy the Imaginext Eagle Talon Castle (for my seven year old) and the Little People Disney Princess Songs Palace (for my three year old.) Have you checked out the online resources over at Fisher-Price? I will be using their Playtime Guide to help me shop for my own kids, and others, during the upcoming months. There’s even a section for grandparents!
It has been interesting to compare the two toys, and the reactions of the kids. While they both show interest in the other’s castle, and will share and play if invited, for the most part they seem happy to stick to their own. This tells me that the castles are each a good fit for where the two kids are developmentally. If my daughter’s fine motor skills are a better fit for her Disney Princess Palace, and her grasp of the stories that might go along with it that much firmer, then I know the toy is a good match and will keep her entertained. She loves the music, loves that she can recognize the characters. My son, on the other hand, is four years older and more into toys that let him imagine battles, and come up with stories and strategies to go along with them. You’ll find him behind the castle, setting things up, playing and later telling us the stories.
Once we were all unpacked, we opened up the Servin’ Surprises Kitchen & Table and oh, boy. This one they are both excited about and so far are sharing excitedly. There are plenty of dishes and food to go around, and so far they are doing fine serving each other and us pizza, cookies, drinks. What is it about kids and kitchens? Both of my kids have loved these types of toys for years. There’s plenty of storage space to tuck things away if you want to turn it into an activity table. We aren’t there yet, but I do love when big toys can do double duty. They take up precious real estate, so it’s smart when they have multiple uses and appeal.
Fisher-Price has wowed us again. All three toys are still in our main floor family room, where the kids keep the toys they play with regularly. And I have fond memories of the last-minute delivery as we moved to our new home in Calgary – whew!
“Disclosure: I am a Fisher-Price Mom and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”
[...] I can tell you firsthand what they are like! You may remember that I’ve written about the Little People Disney Princess Songs Palace before. It’s recommended for ages 1.5 – 5 years so my 3.5 year old has been really [...]
[...] I can tell you firsthand what they are like! You may remember that I’ve written about the Little People Disney Princess Songs Palace before. It’s recommended for ages 1.5 – 5 years so my 3.5 year old has been really [...]
My kids LOVE the imaginex. Love it. They are 7, 4, and 2 and it’s the one toy that they can all play together! I love seeing it get more promotion!