Manufacturer: Playmobil
Price: $16.99
Buy this Toy at: Playmobil Direct
Advent Calendars are not new toys or calendars, depending on what you want to call them. However, they are becoming more popular than they ever were before. If you are unfamiliar with Advent Calendars they are calendars that are generally used around Christmas time. There are boxes with tiny themed presents numbered 1 to 24. The first box is opened on December 1st and the final box is opened 23 days later on the 24th, Christmas Eve. This allows for a great way that kids to countdown to Christmas. They just open a box a day and know that when all the boxes have been opened up, Christmas will be here the next day. Kids really seem to like these and adults enjoy them, too for the same reason.
The nice thing about Playmobil Advent Calendars is that they are inexpensive, built well, and they come in a variety of fun themes. We received the Pirates Calendar for this review, but Playmobil also offers a Knights Calendar, a Christmas Calendar, and a Unicorn Palace Calendar that would be perfect for the mom and dad that have little girls in the house!
This was my first experience with an advent calendar, but I have to admit I enjoyed it quite a bit! I didn’t put in a specific request for what type of calendar, so I was very pleased when I saw that the pirate theme calendar showed up. The reason I was so excited about this was because the only thing my nephew, Lil B, likes more than Santa Claus and Christmas is pirates. He’s only four years old, but Jack Sparrow is his hero and he loves anything associated with pirates, so for him, this calendar couldn’t have been better if we’d ordered it from Playmobil ourselves!
Positives & Negatives:
Positives:
Affordable
Sparks a Creative Environment for Play
Allows for Imagination Play
Allows Young Children to Better Understand Christmas Timing
Easy Assembly Kids Can help With (in Part)
Sturdy/Durable
Fun for the Whole Family
Negatives:
Need to be Careful with Flimsy Boxes – Watch with Small Children (not a real firm negative)
Pricing & Availability:
You can purchase these advent calendars in the theme of your choice for anywhere from $15 to $20 depending on where you shop. Stores will vary based on location though if you are shopping on the Internet you can pick these up at the Playmobil website or at shopping websites such as Amazon.com. Based on the fact that you can use this from year to year this is an incredible bargain. You get plenty for your money and this is something that works well for children of most ages.
Requirements & Instructions:
An instruction booklet comes with your advent calendar. This booklet lets you know which toy pieces go together and in which boxes they should end up. The boxes all go on a cardboard hanging calendar. The boxes will match up with the numbers on the calendar. The instruction booklet makes it incredibly easy to set things up. All of the toys are in plastic baggies so they are easy to locate when it comes time to set things up.
As the boxes are opened and the toys are revealed they are able to be put on a playscape which can be assembled by the directions on the playscape (you just fold portions over and tuck them in to make it playable) or by using some basic common sense.
Other than the booklet, you don’t need anything to get things set up. All of the required pieces are in the box. The only other thing you might need is a pushpin should you decide to hang the calendar up somewhere. If not, then everything is in the box when you purchase the calendar.
Durability:
The Pirates Advent Calendar comes with a sturdy cardboard cutout calendar for all of the boxes, a playscape that you put together for all the toys, 24 boxes, and the little toys that go in the boxes so let’s look at each piece individually before making an assumption about the whole thing.
The cardboard calendar is sturdy and well made. Even when the calendar becomes heavier from all of the boxes being placed in the right spots, you do not have anything to worry about. The playscape is just a thin piece of cardboard cutout that has some hole-slices in it in order for parents (or kids) to put it into an independent, sitting position. This is probably one of your flimsiest pieces, still when used for play we did not have any problems with it. We used it on the floor and on the table where we had planned to keep it and it did fine in both spots.
The boxes are by far the flimsiest piece. Even then, the smaller ones are fairly sturdy. It’s the larger ones you might need to worry about. You just need to look out for when they are being opened. These would be the easiest to rip out of everything included in this set. The toys will be a concern for parents that have younger kids or children that like to put small toys in their mouths. Many of these toys are small enough to do a child some harm. However, assuming your child understands that toys shouldn’t go in their mouth, they should be fine. Additionally, most of the toys would not work going in a child’s mouth, but there is one or two that do make it worth mentioning.
For what you pay for this, it’s definitely a fair deal. I haven’t noticed the kids trying to hold back any of their normal play activities and it is holding up just fine. We will be able to pack it up at the end of the season and use it next year when the time comes.
Ease of Use:
It really doesn’t get any easier than opening a box and putting the toys on the playscape to play with them. Some minor assembly is required. Some of the toys need to be put together (nothing too hard here) and the 24 boxes and the playscape need to be assembled. Otherwise, everything is ready to go. Kids young and old will be able to play with this Advent Calendar. Even if you don’t particularly feel the need to play with it, you can still enjoy the excitement the kids get from counting down the days to Christmas.
I can’t speak for all the calendars, but I have to admit, I like the mix of big and little toys that are used in the order they are. Kids won’t be revealing all of the major toys first only to end up with something little in the end. One day they will reveal a tree and the next it might be a pirate, then it could be some gold pirate booty and then there could be a treasure chest or two.
Fun Factor & Overall Appeal:
The Playmobil Advent Calendar is definitely an enjoyable addition to the Christmas season. It does not have a Christmas theme, which means it could be used at other times if you really wanted to use it then you could. Other families might want to opt for the Christmas themed calendar, but if you’re looking for something to countdown the days this one works perfectly.
My son, CT thought the concept was really cool. We had it all set up and would take out a toy as each day passed. However, on the fourth day, my four year old nephew, Lil B came over. Within a few minutes, and a back turned for what seemed like seconds, he was opening boxes at will. Being that he is a pirate fanatic, he could not wait to open anything in this lineup. I allowed him to open the boxes just because I wanted to see the kids play with the set for the review.
Well, they loved the setup. Lil B didn’t want to leave and when he had to go he wanted to take some pirates, some booty, a treasure chest, and the list goes on. They sat and played for hours with all of the various toys and when he comes back (he’s been back twice since that first day) he always asks if he can play with the pirate toys and their home (as he calls it).
Just going off the fact that this is under $20 no matter where you buy it and it is fun for such a wide age group makes it worth the money. If you have younger kids you just need to make sure they understand the concept or else they might be opening the boxes too soon!
Bottom Line:
The kids in my house love Christmas and this is one of the best ways to let them know that Christmas is coming. This is inexpensive, fairly easy to set up, and most importantly, it’s fun. It comes with a nice selection of pirate themed toys to match the motif and kids seem to love playing with everything included. As a reviewer, my job does not get easier than this Playmobil Advent Calendar. If you do not have one of these, I highly recommend you pick one up. If you don’t prefer pirates there are other themes that you can purchase that should be equally as cute as this one is.
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Technorati Tags: Playmobil, Advent Calendar, Christmas, Pirates, Pirate Booty, Treasure Chest, Toys, Toy Review, Calendar Review, Kids, Children, Holidays
Written by Ashtyn Evans -
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.
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