Boy Brand

Last week Dw was 3, and I found it really hard to find him a present.

In many ways, it should have been easy. Dw has by now started developing his own tastes and the world is full of items marketed to 3 year old boys. But the problem lies in the conflict between what I know he will like and what I want him to have.

I could go out and spend a fortune on the latest {insert Tv character name here} themed gadget, but to be honest, I’m quite cautious of giving in to buying him gifts related to TV shows.

I want him to have toys that will stimulate his imagination, engage him in creative play and show him that there is fun to be had outside the realms of television merchandise.

So, although he loves a certain fire man, the choice for his main pressie this year was this:

Now I believe plan toys are actually changing the fire engine design, which is a shame in some ways, as its really nice, but it could do with a couple of minor improvements.

1. the rope that winches the ladder up gets loose far too easily meaning the extending ladder bit keeps falling off.
2. There are a few too many small parts (such as detachable hydrantss) for my liking. Fine for a child Dw’s age but a bit of a pain if you have a younger sibling about and have to be on constant vigil.

Other than that this is a great toy, and little man has great fun pretending to drench me with his fireman’s hose! I can’t help but feel that he’ll get much more pleasure out of something like this, where he can create his own games and explore his own imaginary world, than that initially buzz he might get from a product with a character he recognizes blazened across it.

There was one thing we conceded on when it comes to tv characters though, and I must say they were quite a hit ☺