Playmobil vs Legos for a 4 to 5 year old?

[alien_host]

DD is 4.5 and I'm wondering what people think is better, Legos or Playmobil at that age. She loves both builidng and pretend play. She does already have a dollhouse which might satisfy the pretend play aspect? Is Playmobil less "building" than Legos and more along the lines of just pretend play once it is set up?

Both are expensive and I'm sort of thinking it might be better to stick with one.

Any thoughts or should I just get two small sets of each and see what she prefers?

TIA!

[sariana]

I'm not very familiar with Playmobil, but there are several "off-brands" that are compatible with Legos. So a Lego set could be supplemented with another (probably less expensive) brand. I think Legos might have more longevity, too.

[Momof3Labs]

Playmobil is mostly playing, and not really building. Legos, I think, are a little advanced for a 4.5yo. At that age, DS1 really needed help building with them, and then would get frustrated when his creations broke or fell apart. And it can be hard to get certain pieces apart sometimes. If you go with Legos (over Playmobil), expect that she'll need adult help playing with them, versus being able to play independently.

[brittone2]

Agree w/ PPs...PM is mostly for playing once set up and most of it would be (IMO) too difficult for a 4.5 year old to assemble.

DS got into Lego around 4.5. We started w/ a smallish open ended set and then once we knew he liked them MIL sent down DH's old Lego collection. We weren't going to be out any $$ buy having it earlier rather than later. He needed help on occasion but definitely enjoyed it from around 4.5.

I'd say Lego and PM are two of the things my 5.5 year old has played with the most in the past year...we couldn't do without either one.

[ett]

Agreeing with PPs - Playmobil for playing and Legos for building. I see them as 2 separate kinds of toys. You can do pretend play with the Lego City sets but DS1 is definitely more into the building part, as he's never been into pretend play anyway. We have a lot of Lego City sets already but I'm thinking of getting some Playmobil for DS2. DS2 is more into pretend play and there are a lot of Playmobil sets to choose from. Lego is more limited in that aspect.

[baileygirl]

I have not seen it in person, but you might consider something like the Lego Belville Horse Stable and then a brick box to go with it for more building.

[fivi2]

Well, my girls are a little younger (not quite 4), so this may not help, but we buy mostly duplos (will move to legos eventually). We have a few playmobil people and accessories, but none of the big sets. My girls prefer to build with blocks or duplos and then have a few people or animals wander around or drive the rocketship or whatever.

[new_mommy25]

Lego and Playmobil are awesome. Either would be a great choice.

My DS got into lego at about 5 years old. Because of this, DD is also into Lego now. She has her own pink box of bricks. http://tinyurl.com/yl6fxev I don't worry about choking because DD has not mouthed anything in several years. We keep the lego upstairs because my 1 year old niece comes over a lot. We have Duplo downstairs and those are also played with several times a week. Duplo are really, really fun, and that may be another option if you're not ready for the little lego yet.

Re the Belville sets. They're really cute but it's strange that they don't use Minifigures. Instead the figures are much larger and more doll like. I wish they were mini figs instead so they would be compatible with other lego sets.

Someone mentioned buying other lego like brands and mixing. I would advise against this. The two other brands Megabloks and Best Lock are terrible compared to Lego quality. We bought 2 Best Lock sets and they almost drove me to drink. Those got donated. We recently bought a Megablok set (DS really wanted to Halo set because his uncle plays Halo) and while the quality and directions were much better than Best Lock, they still were no where near as good as Lego. The set was frusterating to build because the pieces simply do not stick together as well. Sorry for the rant, but Lego are just superior.

My family is just getting into Playmobil now. DS recently got into King Arthur due to a book I bought at GoodWill. Then I scored some Playmobil knight sets for $2.50 each when Kmart was doing their super toy clearance. He and DD have been playing Playmobil quite a bit together now and I will likely pick them up a few more sets for xmas. I think DD would really enjoy the fairy sets.

If they had to choose I think DS would choose the lego over playmobil. Lego are wonderful because they are a building set but also great for pretend play. DS stages really elaborate scenes. The best part about lego is that you can create different scenes everytime. I'm not sure what DD would choose. She does love lego and PLaymobil but she spends most of her time playing baby dolls or her play kitchen. :)