Peppa Pig Shopping Centre Review

Peppa Pig Shopping Centre Review

Our Peppa Pig journey started with Isabelle who is now ten years old and continues with Freddie who is two years old. Did you know that the show has been running since 2004? I had to google it!

Peppa Pig has come a long way since we first started watching it. There are a lot more characters, not to mention all the Peppa Pig themed everything from toys, hair accessories and bedding.

Freddie loves Peppa Pig but his favourite character is George Pig and his dinosaur, so we were thrilled to be sent the Peppa Pig Shopping Centre to play with.

What’s in the Box?

The shopping centre is set out across two floors featuring six different shops with the clever help of interchangeable signs. There is:

Ice Cream Parlour
Pizzeria
Cake Shop
Toy Store
Fruit and Veg Shop
Bakery

There is even a working lift that the characters can go up and down in which I think was Freddie’s favourite feature. As with any supermarket, there is a tannoy with buttons with real supermarket sounds such as the ‘ding dong’ to alert shoppers to special offers, checkout sounds and lift music.

The shopping centre came with twelve accessories including a Peppa Pig character, shopping trolly, cash register, a plate of cookies, a restaurant table and chairs and a plate of cookies.

Interchangeable Shops

The shop areas can be changed by the clever use of swivelling signs.

I should give the restaurant table a special mention since the table rotates between having Pizza and ice cream on the plates.

The Lift

I knew that the lift would be Freddie’s favourite feature. Pop Peppa in the lift and press the button for her to go up to the next level, and then push it back down to do it again……and again……and again! Freddie only turned two in June and is quite heavy handed, but this was robust enough for him to do on his own without any frustration.

The Microphone

What’s a shopping centre without real life noises. The microphone has working buttons with a check out sound, lift music and the kind of ‘ding dong’ that you hear before an announcement is made. The microphone is detachable, so could be accidentally lost should you need a bit of peace and quiet.

Our Thoughts

I really wished that I’d caught Freddies gasp when I showed him the shopping centre. He could not wait to get it out of the box and thankfully it wasn’t screwed to the box and didn’t require any assembly. The only thing we had to do was put the batteries (not included) in the microphone and it was good to go.

Freddie was two in June and so toys generally have to be quite robust for him to play with, but this playset ticked all the boxes in terms of sturdiness and managed to keep his attention for a long time, in fact I had to prise the pieces out of his hands so we could pick his sister up from school. His favourite feature was the lift which he was able to do without any help and enjoyed putting Peppa and her shopping the lift.

Overall, this has all the plus points that we look for when buying toys for Freddie. The only thing that would have been nice addition would have been if there was a Miss Rabbit character since she does all the jobs in Peppa Pig.

The Peppa Pig Shopping Centre is marketed at children age 3+ but Freddie has already been playing with Isabelle’s Peppa Pig toys and I’m quite happy that he is able to play with it as intended. It retails at £39.99 at Smyths Toys and other retailers and would make a great Christmas present for any Peppa Pig fan.

*We were sent the Peppa Pig Shopping Centre in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are our own. 

Fireman Sam Fire Rescue Centre Review

Fireman Sam Fire Rescue Centre Review

Freddie has only just recently been introduced to Fireman Sam, but as soon as I showed him the Fireman Sam Fire Rescue Centre playset he knew who it was and got very excited to start playing with it.

The Fireman Sam Rescue Centre unfolds to reveal the inside of the headquarters in Pontypandy featuring a working zipwire, the kitchen where the crew have their tea, a platform with a pulley and training dolly and best of all a working fireman’s pole. It also come with an articulated Fireman Sam Character.

Once you’ve finished playing with the set, it can be folded away for easy storage and has a carry handle so can be easily taken on a playdate.

The Zipwire

The zipwire has a suction pad that can be suctioned onto a flat surface. We found it stuck quite well to our dining table leg. You can then clip Sam onto it and whoosh to the rescue.

Pulley and Training Dolly

As part of the rescue centre there is a pulley system and training dolly so that the fire rescue team can practice for live rescues.

Fireman’s Pole

The set comes complete with a Fireman’s pole which Sam clips onto before whizzing down to the rescue.

There are other characters and vehicles in the range which would make a great addition to this playset.

The set retails at £19.99 and can be bought from Argos and Smyths Toys Superstores. Suitable from age 3+

If you have a Fireman Sam fan, they’ll be pleased to know that there is a Fireman Sam Special – Return of the Norman-Man showing on Cartoonito at 5pm, Thursday 5th November. There are also some cool Fireman Sam stop from animation clips that you can watch on the Character Options YouTube channel.

Our Thoughts

Freddie really enjoyed playing with the playset but found it tricky to get Sam onto the firepole and the zipwire. Once it was set up he happily played with the set for a while and liked to carry it round from the lounge to the kitchen before setting it up again.

His favourite part was the zipwire, he would place the training dolly on different part of the playset before Fireman Sam came to the rescue after following Dolly’s pleas for help.

It’s great that there are additional toys and characters to add to the set as a Fire Engine would definitely complete this set up.

As Freddie is only two, he was a little bit heavy handed when it came to the zipwire so the suction cup kept coming off which led to a few wobbles, but this was a great set for us to play together and with a little bit of help was more than able to play independently.

*We were sent the Fireman Sam Fire Rescue Centre for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.