Is your Loving Family ready for some Backyard fun?
Written: Sep 19 '03
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Pros: A fun addition for the Loving Family!
Cons: The dog is missing???
The Bottom Line: Although the dog was missing in this set, I still give this play set an above average rating for the fun factor and great quality!
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| sblaydes's Full Review: Loving Family Backyard Set |
My eight-year-old daughter has always shown a fondness to doll figurines and animal figurines. When she was two years old she adored her Winnie the Pooh collection of figurines. I can’t even begin to tell you the countless hours that she would play with those, especially on our 11 plus hour flights to/from Brazil. (She would amaze those passengers sitting next to us.) Then there was, and still is, Barbie. But Barbie isn’t the only doll figurine that she still enjoys playing with. The Fisher Price Loving Family has been in our home for over three years now and these figurines still get played with.
When my daughter turned eight several months ago and we went shopping at Toys R Us with some of her birthday money/gift cards, I figured that we would be headed straight to the Barbie aisle. I was wrong. She definitely surprised me by heading straight for the aisle containing Fashion Polly (Polly Pocket) and Loving Family. When she first glanced at the shelves and saw the Fisher Price Backyard Set, I knew just from her expression that this item would be going into our cart. Was I wrong? Nope. While I have to admit that the grill is a pretty neat piece to this Fisher Price Backyard Set I would have to say that my daughter choose this set merely for the fact that it came with… a swing set.
~ How does this Mom feel about these Loving Family products? ~
In all honesty, my daughter has no more space inside her Loving Family home for any type of room sets. Yes, this Loving Family has no need for additional furniture in their home. So I have to ask myself, had Fisher Price considered this might happen and decided to offer a play set with an outdoor theme? It seems like a pretty clever idea to me.
First of let me say that I highly recommend the Fisher Price Loving Family and accessories highly. While the quality of products we have purchased over the past three years have been suburb, it is my daughter’s fondness to them that makes me feel the need to highly recommend them. She has spent many, many hours up in her playroom playing with her Loving Family and accessories. And sometimes, a few select members of this Loving Family come with us on vacation. So, I had no qualms what-so-ever with my daughter’s decision to purchase the Loving Family Backyard Set.
~ Are you ready for some backyard fun? ~
There are a total of four main pieces that come with this Loving Family Backyard Set. The packaging of this set offers a clear plastic front panel so that all of these pieces and accessories can be seen which can help make the purchasing decision a bit easier. I’d like to also add that getting these pieces out of the box is so much easier than taking a Barbie out of her box. Thank goodness! So, what do you get with this play set?
~ barbecue grill
~ swing set (with two swings)
~ slide
~ picnic table & accessories
In the order as shown above, I am going to give a few bits of detail about each item in this play set. Let’s begin with the barbecue grill. I personally think that this grill is adorable. It is primarily red with the exception of light gray wheels, light gray turn knob (will explain later) and darker gray knobs on the front of this grill, which are non-functioning. There are also a few other items on this grill that offer a change in color than the red. There is the white propane tank and the light green tongs and oven mitt. The lid of this grill opens, and inside you will see either a plain gray grill rack, or… you can turn the light gray knob and discover your cooked barbecue complete with three hamburgers and four hotdogs.
The swing set is another cute piece to this set and was the big influencing factor to my daughter with this set! Featuring two swings, the purple swing reminds me of a baby swing since it features a bear as a headrest and has a thicker bar on the front to keep baby safely inside. The other swing is light blue in color (Shown as green in this photo image.) and does not feature a headrest and boasts a not as large bar on the front. (The photo image above may help put this into perspective some.) Each of the swings can be unattached if wanted, but we have kept ours on so that they do not accidentally break. This swing set is to be made to look like it is made out of wood not only by its brown color, but also by the detail on each board of this swing. There are four braces in each top corner of the swing set that are hot pink in color and feature a flower on it. And then, on each side of the swing by the base it is made to look like there is grass and a few hot pink flowers. Very cute!
You can’t have a swing set without a slide, right? The steps of this ladder are made to look exactly like the structure of the swing set. The slide itself is purple. At the base of the ladder and the front of the slide you will notice little blotches (Very technical term, right?) of green grass and yellow flowers. Once again I find this to be a really nice touch.
The picnic table is just your classic brown wood (Okay, so this one is made out of plastic!) table with attached benches on both sides. Worth mentioning are two little accessory pieces that come with this table. First, the red/white checked tablecloth that can be used on the table or even on the ground if your child so chooses. There is also a blue tray which features two hot pink cups and napkins, two knives and spoons, and two blue plates with what appears to be two hamburgers, potato chips and two pickles. (This is just my guess!) All of these pieces come as one, meaning that they can not be removed. This is the smallest item in the Loving Family Backyard Set. Just a reminder that this set is suggested for children ages three and up. You will want to keep this in mind if younger siblings are in the house or if you are considering this purchase for a child younger than three years of age.
I would like to add that all pieces to the Loving Family Backyard Set are appropriately sized, which is really nice. And yes, even the Loving Family baby can easily slide into one of the baby swings with great ease, that even your three-year-old could handle it. In regards to the picnic table, only one adult member of the Loving Family could fit on one side of this table. You can fit two of the children on one side, but it should be noted that it is a tight fit which may promote a bit of “Mom, he/she is touching me” from the kids!
~ A negative comment from me? ~
Seriously, I can’t believe that I have anything negative to say about a Loving Family product but with this set I do. If you were to look on the back of this Loving Family Backyard Set box it clearly shows a dog included in this set. If you look at the photo image shown on the Fisher Price web site you see the same. Yet, there was no dog included in our box. The animal lover in this house, my daughter, was extremely disappointed after we got home and she looked at the back of the box featuring many of the play sets for purchase and spotted the Backyard Set showing a yellowish looking dog in the sitting position. If this dog is not going to be included in all sets, it really should not be in a photo on the back of this box featuring this set, with the dog included. According to my daughter, this is cheap and she doesn't understand why it is in the photograph but not in the box. What can I say? I am in total agreement with her.
~ Oh what fun it is to play in the backyard! ~
Although we really would have liked the dog with this set, the Fisher Price Backyard Set is yet another great quality product and one that I would still highly recommend. Each of these pieces in this play set is made of a nice quality plastic which has withstood hours of playing time. The color choices that are in this play set are nice and bold, yet… very realistic looking.
With the upcoming Holidays or even a future birthday party… I think that the Loving Family Backyard Set would make a great gift for a little girl ranging from age three and up. With a sticker price of $9.99, this play set is affordable and should last for many years. The other important feature I feel in regards to this set is that there are no batteries needed. This set relies merely on your child’s imagination for the fun factor. As a parent, I really like that!
*** Recommended for children ages three and up. ***
www.fisher-price.com
U.S. Toll Free
1-800-432-5437
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 9.99
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