Fisher-Price Little People Sweet Sounds Home - Imagination Abounds!
Written: Jan 03 '04 (Updated Jun 22 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to set up and use, nice features
Cons: Storage
The Bottom Line: A nice, sturdy house set from a name we can trust.
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| KMINER's Full Review: Fisher-Price Little People Sweet Sounds Home |
My 3 1/2 year old son became fascinated with the Little People. He got a 30 minute video from somewhere and once he turned about 3 took an interest in watching it - over and over. He started to ask about the characters, and notice the Fisher-Price logo and Little People merchandise when we went into stores. The Fisher-Price Little People Sweet Sounds Home was the major piece Colin requested "from Daddy" one Christmas. We were pleasantly surprised to see it cost only about $25.00.
Of course we bought it, and of course we gave it to Colin early. At age 3 and on he played with the toy constantly. It came in a huge box and required some assembly. At the time my husband was busy so this is the first toy I have totally put together myself. You need a Phillips screwdriver, 3 AA batteries and some steady fingers for sticking on a ton of stickers! Thankfully, it comes mostly together - you just need to unscrew the battery compartment and place them in, and you also need to flip the house over and screw on the 2 posts to make the fences. There are then 25 stickers to place - and keep in mind of the 25 some are sets. There is a diagram with the Instructions that pretty clearly showed where each sticker was to go - thank goodness. The stickers really take the place of many objects around the house - the rugs, the wall hangings, the laundry, the food, the computer screen, etc. The stickers are quite colorful and detailed and I thought in the end really enhanced the toy. It has a bright pink roof and seems to be the only color we have found available.
What Fisher Price says about this toy(taken from amazon):
"Fun sounds in every room! It always sounds like there's somebody home in this house-with the phone ringing, the kitchen timer dinging and more! Now add your child's imagination, the Little People family of three, eight furnished rooms, and this house really becomes a home. All accessories store right inside. Includes three Little People characters, a table and two chairs, stroller, play center, a bed and two connectable fence pieces."
The batteries allow the "noises" to play. There are only 7 sounds - computer typing, washing machine (which Colin thinks is the stove), kitchen timer, crib (makes mobile music and crying baby sounds), telephone, toilet flushing (my son's favorite of the sounds), and play room rug (makes baby "playing/cooing" sounds). There is an On/Off switch on the underside of the house. The Fisher-Price Little People Sweet Sounds Home comes with 3 people - a father (phone attached to his hand), a mother (a bottle attached to hers), and a baby already asleep in a bassinet looking thing. Colin loves them, but I do wish the accessories were not attached - it makes it look odd for the "Mommy" and "Daddy" to be used in other Little People sets. The set also comes with a free standing eating/picnic table, 2 chairs, stroller, baby's play thing, and a bed (bed is big enough and has indentations for 2 people).
Colin was beyond thrilled to play with this set, and it's the biggest Little People set we own. The rooms are a den/play room, a main room with kitchen and lounging area, a laundry room, a bathroom, an office, and a main bedroom (the baby and parents share a room). The house folds in on itself but still takes up a lot of room. When closed the upstairs region still stays visable.
It was such a natural thing for our son to "play house". He has the parents take the baby out for a walk, makes the baby take a nap, have the parents eat, use the bathroom, you name it. He often has other Little People from other sets come and "visit" but has a really good understanding of which 3 original characters were made to go with this set. Colin especially loves having people go in and out the front door and "pretend" sleep in the bed.
The Fisher-Price Little People Sweet Sounds Home seems completely durable, Colin has dragged the house everywhere around the house and dropped it multiple times. Since it is plastic it wipes down easily. It doesn't store as well and so we now have a small part wall and corner where all of his Little People items "dwell" when not in use.
When he finally outgrew all of the Little People toys we put them away in a toy bin. Years later we had another child, a girl, who is now 19 months old. Her favorite thing to play with this month is our Fisher-Price Little People Sweet Sounds Home. She uses it much in the same fashion - though she obsesses over where the "baby" is at all times, and her favorite sound is the washer and dryer.
I feel for $25.00 you really get a lot of product. I also feel this is a very useful toy and one that can be used by multiple children. I also see it as something that can be passed down from family to family. I love that the rooms are open enough that little hands can easily get around playing this. And it's something each kid has been able to play with completely by himself - and also use their imagination (the few sounds only enhance this I feel).
Other Little People sets we own:
Fisher Price Little People Floaty Boat with Sea Captain
Fisher-Price Little People Musical Christmas Train
Fisher-Price Little People Beeps the Bus
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 25.00
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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