Tired of the same old advent calendar? Playmobil might have the answer for you
Written: Nov 24 '08
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Pros: A different, more "fun" kind of advent calendar
Cons: Cumbersome set up
The Bottom Line: I think the parts could be a little more interesting for the target age group, but the concept is a good one.
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| jurgrace's Full Review: Playmobil Christmas in the Forest Advent Calendar |
I remember back when advent calendars didn't bribe you with anything. You just opened up each day and found a cute little picture inside. Now, kids are trained that advent calendars have to at least contain a piece of chocolate inside. Many toy manufacturers seem to have caught on to this idea, and are making advent calendars with little toys inside. I learned this when a friend gave us the Playmobil Christmas in the Forest Advent Calendar at my son's baptism a few weeks ago.
Of course, at nine months of age, my son is way too young to enjoy or even touch this calendar, but his two older sisters immediately started nagging me about when we were going to open it. After two weeks of nagging, we finally put the calendar together last weekend, and I truly believe that it took more time to put together than they will ever spend at one time with this thing.
So, what is the Playmobil Christmas in the Forest Advent Calendar?
For those who do not acknowledge Advent, or use the calendars, an Advent Calendar is a scene with 24 numbered flaps, to help children count the days to Christmas, starting on December 1st. There is no 25, because the 25th is Christmas day, so they count that one by opening all the presents "Santa" brought them the night before. As I said before, these calendars originally had a scene under each flap, but now most Advent Calendars are 3-D, with a little chocolate or other trinket under each flap.
Playmobil has a few different Advent Calendars available. Their Christmas in the Forest Advent Calendar consists of a thick-papered (like carton) forest background, and a huge wall hanging (about two feet long) with a bunch of little boxes attached, in which there are several animals and trees to place in the forest scene. Because I feel it is important to know what your children will be opening, and when, here is a list of items by day:
Day 1: A tree hill with two microscopic birds
Day 2: A leafless tree
Day 3: Two more itty bitty birds and an equally small bird feeder
Day 4: A little basket with hay and grass
Day 5: A baby dear and some berries
Day 6: A daddy dear
Day 7: A mommy dear
Day 8: A straw mound with a little bush
Day 9: A pine tree
Day 10: A baby raccoon with some more berries
Day 11: Mommy raccoon
Day 12: A wild boar?
Day 13: Carrots and some small yellow food
Day 14: Baby boar?
Day 15: Mama badger
Day 16: Baby badger
Day 17: Two beets and a microscopic mouse
Day 18: A tree stump with a flower on it
Day 19: Another pine tree
Day 20: Two tiny foxes
Day 21: Mama fox
Day 22: Canoe with oars
Day 23: More carrots, straw, lettuce and a basket of yellow food
Day 24: Santa
As you can see, some days will be more exciting than others, and it takes a few days to get to anything that will be exciting for kids to play with. Of course, the most exciting part (Santa) doesn't come until the very end.
Assembly
As should be obvious when you consider the size of this thing and the relatively small box it comes in, adult assembly of the calendar is required. The box states that assembly of the backdrop and calendar should only take 25 minutes, which is ridiculous. Once I opened the box and saw all the parts, I decided to time myself. With a surprisingly patient five year old by my side, it took us 43 minutes to put this thing together.
What needs to be assembled? Well, first I saw the backdrop, which is two separate pieces, it took me a couple minutes to figure out that the second piece was stored in a plastic bag with some of the carton boxes. Inside the big box there are three plastic baggies that have all of the little toys and the folded up (flat) boxes inside. These are not arranged in any kind of logical way either. The boxes aren't grouped by numbers 1-7, 8-16, or anything that would make sense. Neither are the toys, so we wasted a lot of time trying to find the correct boxes and the toys that go in each box. This is where my five year-old came in handy. Once I realized how poorly grouped the boxes were, I had my daughter find them and put them in order.
In addition, a lot of the pieces (like the trees and mounds) need additional assembly. Some fit into the boxes fully assembled, and some don't. The only way to find out is by trial and error, which is time-consuming.
After we got all of the boxes put together and closed, we had to punch open the slits in the backs of the boxes and the slits on the calendar, so we could attache the boxes to the calendar. Some of the boxes did not cooperate as well on this step, which was yet another nuisance.
Final Thoughts
I really like the concept of a "different" kind of Advent Calendar, and my daughters are very excited to play with the toys. However, just playing with a tree or carrots is not very appealing to them. From watching their reaction while assembling the calendar, I can tell that they are most interested in the larger animals, which are still pretty small (the largest one is about two inches high and long) and don't come out until the sixth day, at the earliest.
Because of the small parts (the birds might be a centimeter long), the box states the recommended age for the Playmobil Christmas in the Forest Advent Calendar as 4+, which I think is a good recommendation, as long as the intended recipient enjoys playing with animals.
While the way things are packaged makes assembly a pain in the neck, I do think that this is a fun kind of Advent Calendar, and my girls are very excited for December first to come, so they can start opening the boxes. While the calendar will most likely not be re-usable for next year, the playscene should last as long as any other Playmobil set, and animal-loving kids will love it. At this point, I'm too irritated with the assembly to give it anything more than three stars, but I do recommend it as something different to have at Christmas this year.
Another recommendation for a different kind of holiday decoration:
The Little People Nativity Set
Special thanks to marytara for adding this to the database.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): gift
Type of Toy: Playscene
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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