Fisher-Price World of Little People ABC Zoo

Fisher Price Little People Zoo…………


This is one of many presents that Jack received for his first birthday, he absolutely loves playing with it and since his birthday, which was nearly three months ago, he has hardly put it down!

My parents bought this as one of Jack's presents and we all knew it was something he wanted because every time we passed it in Woolworth's he pointed it out to us and wanted to grab it ...
...It was on sale for £19.99 pence and the label claimed this was half price, although looking on the Internet you can pretty much pick it up everywhere for around this price.

The age range recommendation on this toy is 12 months to 3 years. It states on the back that 3 x AAA batteries are needed which are not included but it seemed that the batteries were already inside when we opened the toy.

When you buy the Zoo, you ... more

Fisher Price Little People Zoo…………

This is one of many presents that Jack received for his first birthday, he absolutely loves playing with it and since his birthday, which was nearly three months ago, he has hardly put it down!

My parents bought this as one of Jack's presents and we all knew it was something he wanted because every time we passed it in Woolworth's he pointed it out to us and wanted to grab it (not something he usually does or has done since!). It was on sale for £19.99 pence and the label claimed this was half price, although looking on the Internet you can pretty much pick it up everywhere for around this price.

The age range recommendation on this toy is 12 months to 3 years. It states on the back that 3 x AAA batteries are needed which are not included but it seemed that the batteries were already inside when we opened the toy.

When you buy the Zoo, you are getting more than just a few plastic animals in a couple of cages, it comes with a few different things to make up a whole Park type Zoo. The main section of the Zoo has three gates that can be opened and closed and these have pictures on them of the animals that should be enclosed in these three separate areas.

The first picture is of a lion and so indicates that this is where the toy should live. There is a button type piece to stand the lion on and when pressed, out comes the sound of a lion roaring (albeit a bad sounding lion). The second of the three areas is where the white polar bear lives and again there is a picture depicting exactly what the plastic toy looks like and when you place the plastic polar bear over the buttoned area again the roar of a polar bear will sound out (once more not a very convincing sound). With this button there is also a second sound made that is rather like the sound of running water, not a very convincing sound but good enough to make out what it is supposed to be. The third gated section is that of the elephant's enclosure, the pictured gate opens for the elephant to sit on the button, which of course gives out the sound of an elephant (slightly more convincing).

The section above the gated area had two different parts both with buttons on them. The first is up at the top of a tree and this is where the small plastic bird lives, his button sounds out a whistled tune which is quite catchy but Jack just continues to push this button so that can be a little annoying after a while. The little seal can sit up on a platform just next to the bird and his button gives a somewhat realistic seal noise which I can quite find the word for but its like a "Gulp Gulp Gulp". On the other side of the bird, a metal runner shoots down to the ground area where a bunch of bananas hang down from the tree at the top and a little money is sitting on a leaver at the bottom. The monkey's leaver can be whacked which sends the monkey whooshing all the way up to the top making a "oo oo oo ahh ahh ahh" type noise as he jumps. This monkey part is my favourite piece especially when Jack does his funny monkey noise along with it.

That was all the main sections of the Zoo described but as I said previously the toy is more than just the one part. Packed in with the toy was eight separate pieces of red chunky fencing, all with a corresponding pictures stuck on relating to one of the plastic animals that came with the set. The animals that come with the Zoo are:
The monkey that is attached to the main Zoo and cannot be taken off,
A small plastic giraffe,
A rather cute looking Elephant,
A seal (or sea lion I never know which) holding a ball,
A lion with a huge mane,
A small bright orange tiger,
A chubby white polar bear,
A two humped camel,
A rather comical turkey (although not sure why a turkey would be at a Zoo?),
A kangaroo with a stuffed teddy bear in her pouch,
A zebra with a blue bow in its tail and
A white duck with a duckling on its back.
There were also three little people, two boys and a girl. One little boy came sitting in a small red truck. Accompanying the pieces of fencing (which could all be fitted together to make one large enclosure) was an open fronted animal shed with part of the roof missing (this is where Jack usually puts the giraffe with his head poking out!), and a food booth where the front can slide open and closed.

There is so much to this toy for the money and the little people and animal can be used for different toys from this range or even a little game on their own. The animals and people all have holes in their bottoms just so they can be fitted into the peg that is in the car or on other little people toys (the train for example where the animals fit on the peg and stay on unless pulled off).

All of the pieces for this Zoo are extremely hard wearing and tough. The animals are very chunky and made from a soft to touch but tough plastic which is perfect for younger children. They are pretty much choke resistant, dribble resistant and too big too put anywhere dangerous (apart from the oven or down the toilet, although we have only had lion down the toilet so far!). The animals and the Zoo itself are easy to clean but storage is a nightmare. I don't like all Jacks toys left out in the front room I bought a large cupboard (which is very full now), but because there is so much of this toy it does take up a lot of space in the cupboard and all the small animals, fencing and people have to get put into a separate box.

Overall, I think that this Fisher Price Little People Zoo is really a worthwhile toy. Jack has picked up all the animals names and can bring me each one when I ask for it. He is able to copy the noises that are made for each of the animals apart from the elephant, which is pretty hard for me to do anyway. He chats away in baby talk to all the little animals when he is playing and he really does value it as a good toy. Not only had it been educational from the point of learning the animal's names and noises but it has been a lot of fun so far too. Sometimes I enjoy playing with it as much as Jack does and we both just adore playing with it together.

I would award this Little People Zoo with 6 stars if I could but as it goes the highest it can get is a 5 star award but trust me it is worth a lot more. Well worth getting for a little child of this age and either, a boy or a girl would love it just as much. 

...less