Preschoolers Take Over The Great Outdoors! Mosquitoes Not Included ... Lego Explore Together Camp Site
Written: Sep 06 '03
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Pros: Blue canoe, well-crafted cloth tent, one figure and a very cute yellow fish.
Cons: Could use a few more basic blocks.
The Bottom Line: Have a preschooler that’s into blocks? Pick up this set and get ready for a real adventure!
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| Freak369's Full Review: LEGO Systems LEGO - Explore Together: Campsite 361... |
Lego has long since been a leader in combining entertainment with education. With the debut of their Explore Together line of blocks and building sets, they hoped to give the Duplo portion of their line a little boost. The sets were geared towards kids two through four and had a little more ‘kid appeal’ to them then the basic block sets. During the initial stages of the Explore line larger sets were pushed out first with the hopes that people would take the bait, with sales not exactly what they expected, smaller sets soon hit the market. The pieces in the sets are Duplo sized and can be combined with any of these sized sets. The real attraction to these types of sets is that you can pick up one of a kind pieces [yellow fish, tent, canoe etc] that are a real blast to play with. Noting reduces stress quicker than picking up the boat with the “happy camper” in it and having the fish attack it. OK, so maybe that’s not the way most kids would utilize this set, but as an adult I can’t resist goofing around with the pieces.
Lego Explore Together Camp Site
This is a small set consisting of nine elements. When I first saw the box I was immediately drawn to the orange tent and blue canoe. Until this series, finding cloth items in sets were usually limited to small things like flags and capes so I couldn’t wait to rip this box open. You only get one figure with this set and he’s called The Happy Camper. He’s the same basic figure that’s included with most Duplo sets and resembles the ones that were released with the Duplo Dinosaur series. His head can be rotated, his arms move up and down and he is bendable at the waist. For a basic figure, he does have a lot of detail but the red and green combination looks a little too colorful when combined with the orange tent and blue canoe. The tent needs a little attention when you first get it out of the box. I had to play around with it for a while to get it to “fluff up” but once it was out in the open a lot of the wrinkles went away. The tent has two arches that support the material and a small flap style doorway with a velcro tab. At the top there is a white plastic loop that can be used to hang the tent if you have other sets to combine it with. The real killer here is the small Lego stitch tab on the bottom, the perfect way to top off this piece.
Accessories
The blue canoe is a great piece and can seat or accommodate up to four Duplo sized people. The studs at the bottom of the boat are large and make placing the figures inside a piece of cake. Under the canoe there are three adjoining studs so this can be snapped on to the 4.x2 Duplo or Explore blocks. The fishing pole and line are pretty darn strong and will hold up to a lot of use. I expected the fishing pole to be made of bendable plastic but was pretty pleased when I opened the box and saw it was made of strong plastic – this means it won’t warp or get bent out of shape. At the end of the pole there is a small plug that snaps into the mouth of the fish. One small thing that really had me puzzled about the fish is the size of it. It’s larger than the figure that’s included in this set. I guess they wanted to give kids the chance to have their own “I caught a fish this big” story. Also included with this set are three basic blocks, two flat, one chunky. These are really rather useless unless they are combined with other blocks. The small red flower can be used as a decoration but again, unless you have others to create a scene, it really serves no purpose.
Price
This has a suggested retail price of $5.99 but I found it at Marshall’s for $2.00 along with several other Lego Explore sets. Since this contains some very unique pieces, the $5.99 price might sting a little at first, but it really is worth it. There are so many possibilities for the elements in this set that any child that has shown an interest in blocks or building will fall in love with it. If you are a bargain hunter check places like Marshall’s, Big Lots, Factory 2 You / Factory Direct and TJ Maxx for the Explore sets at a reduced price. I doubt I would have purchased this at the $5.99 price because the boys have long since outgrown the Duplo sized blocks and sets but after checking this set out and playing around with it, I have to give it thumbs up so if you are thinking about getting this but are hesitant because of the price, trust me, you and your child will both love it!
Things To Know
Chances are if you’ve never seen these sets, the packaging won’t immediately scream out “Hey, I’m a Lego product!”. The boxes are simpler with reduced graphics, show large photos of the pieces in action with photos of children in the scene and push tabs to open them [no more ripping the boxes to shreds]. These sets were supposed to be integrated with the Duplo series but never really seemed to catch on with the public – hence several of the sets being phased out and placed on sale. Even if you have a young child that isn’t into build block sets, if you come across them on sale – you can always stock up on them for when they are ready or for the holidays. One small downside to purchasing these are close out stores is that the boxes might be a little banged up or have some shelf wear but as long as its still factory sealed, the pieces are fully protected.
There aren’t any instructions with this set but the small leaflet that’s enclosed shows some illustrations of Explore sets and the box is always a good reference. There are a lot of different things that can be done with this set, even more when it’s combined with other Explore and Duplo sets. Most adults will look at a set like this and think that since it only contains nine pieces that it won’t be much fun. It’s the simplicity of the set that really makes it attractive to kids. There is enough there for them to get interested but not so much that they don’t have creative freedom.
The Bottom Line
I am really happy with this set. When the boys saw me freaking out over it they wanted to crawl under a rock but that didn’t stop them from checking it out once we got home. Their favorite piece was the tent; something that I am sure will be disappearing off my Lego laden computer desk in the near future. I’m hoping to find a few more of these sets when we visit Marshall’s again, I’d really like to get some more of the fish and the blue canoe can be used for a lot of different things. If you have a child around the age of two and he or she has an interest in blocks, this would be a great set to look for.
The Stats
Set Name: Camp Site
Family Set: Explore
Lego Set: 3610
Number of Pieces: 9
Age Recommendation: 2 and older
Ease Of Assembly: Easy
Cost: $5.99
As always, thanks for the visit …
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Other Explore Together sets ..
Racing Lion
Racing Leopard
Racing Tiger
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $2.00
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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