Help me understand "Little People" toys by FP

[foodiezen]

My neighbor just gave some hand me down Little People toys to my 13 month old. He has no interest in it. Is this the right age? Or can I assume that my DC just isn't into it? TIA! --Katherine

[maestramommy]

I think (most of the time) 13 months is too young, except for chewing:p We got my oldest one set when she was maybe 18 months old. But she still barely touched it until she was almost 3. Every kid is different though. Some get into role playing much earlier. And it also depends on what the set is.

[catpagmo]

My DD never played with Little People. I think she was about 1.5 or 2 yo when she got them. We still have them, and at nearly 4 yo, she still has zero interest in the LP.

[srkaplan]

My 15 month old has the farm set and LOVES the animals. She doesn't play with them in the barn, but likes to basically just hold and look at the animals and make their noises. I can't imagine her playing with them in the barn (make-believe type play) for quite a while. We also have the anniversary edition schoolhouse and she doesn't have much interest in it at all.

[let73]

DD is almost 4yo and is just now showing interest in them. We've had them for about 2 years.

[jk3]

My 2.5 year old loves LP - especially the farm, garage + castle. The sets are super cute + great for pretend play.

[newg]

DD is 20 months and just now starting to play with the dump truck she got as a hand-me-down. She mostly pushes it around and puts blocks in the back of the truck.........she does not play with the stacking blocks we bought for her last year................

[KathyN115]

DD is 3.5, and occasionally will play with them. She has had them for 2 years and they have not gotten much play at all. She prefers the animals to the people though.

[s7714]

My DDs started showing interest in them around age 2, but they played with them more around age 3-4.

[amm40]

My 15 mo old DS got a small farm set for his birthday, as well as a boat with the blocks. His favorite thing is the tractor, but he also carries around the cow (or horse!) saying "Oooooh". We'll have to work on the "M", and someday explain the difference between cows and horses, but for now he's quite proud of himself. He also really enjoys stacking the blocks and will spend 20 minutes sometimes doing that. I enjoy the open play options. In fact I'm thinking about just getting some of the extra animals to the zoo and noah's ark, so we can learn some more animals now, and maybe get the big set later.

[hellokitty]

My oldest is almost 6 yrs old and has played with his FP little ppl very rarely. DS2 has shown even less interest. I was going to give them away, but hoping that maybe DS3 will like them.

[Neatfreak]

DD1 became a little interested around 18 months, and was totally interested in her LP sets at two years. She liked the Zoo and Farmt the best - animals are her thing. She still plays a few times a week with LP, and she's five years old now ...

[JBaxter]

they are nice yardsale items here. my older 3 boys have showed no interest in them. The garage got some marginal use for match box cars thats about it.

[Seitvonzu]

most of our little people are hand me downs from family-- i believe MIL gave them to my nieces and nephews and they got passed from house to house and we eventually ended up with a bunch. we have the school bus, a playground set, a zoo set, a zoo train, a circus train and lots of extra people/cars things like that. we also have last years "girl" easter set that i got on mega clearance. so our investment was pretty minimal... we didn't take everything that was offered to us-- for example a dollhouse, because we already had similar things and i try to avoid duplicate toys when possible!

we obtained this stuff in early may when lucy was 16 months old and she took to it immediately. it was the main stuff she played with while we stayed at MIL/FIL's house (we were trying to figure out what she liked from all the sets so we could leave some behind!) she also played alot with the big loving family plastic doll house MIL set up in their playroom. she'd already had exposure to her own dollhouse--a more simple wooden version. when she first got that she would mostly play with the figures or move pieces around. DH & I would set up "vignettes" at night and before we knew it, she was getting really into the more "pretend" and social aspects of the house and then with her little people sets when she got them.

it depends on the child for sure...this is the sort of play that my kid LOVES. can she ride a ride on toy? not so much. but she loves lovesloves pretend. it's sorta her thing.

[jamesmom]

We've had LP sets for 5 years now, and my 6 and 3.5 year old still play with them regularly. My DCs started playing with them at 2 years. Early play consisted of lining up LP figures or populating the zoo, house or farm. My preschooler and grade schooler still use their LP for pretend play. DD especially likes to create stories using LP figures and sets, which is great to see. It's been one of those toys with staying power in our house.

[kijip]

LP never caught on with T, even though my brother gave him a ton for every holiday for a few years. The only LP item he has ever played with for more than a minute is the super old school LP Airport and planes with the old, choking hazard people. The woman gave that to me at a board meeting one night for him had had them from when her adult grandkids played at her house. Her adult grandkids are mostly older than me, so they must be late 70s??

[vonfirmath]

LP never caught on with T, even though my brother gave him a ton for every holiday for a few years. The only LP item he has ever played with for more than a minute is the super old school LP Airport and planes with the old, choking hazard people. The woman gave that to me at a board meeting one night for him had had them from when her adult grandkids played at her house. Her adult grandkids are mostly older than me, so they must be late 70s??

I was born 73 and had that airport. I LOVED that airport. I'd put it at 78 or 79, yes.

[american_mama]

My girls love Little People and have since each was about age 3. The oldest is 7.5 years and still really likes them. I don't think they are toddler play items at all, even though the current Little People are big and chunky like toddler toys. Some kids just have different preferences, but I wonder if you gave it to a toddler who was un-interested, than put it away for 2 years or so, would they like it when it came out of storage?

We have mostly older Little People sets from when I was a child (and I, my siblings and neighbors all played with them into elementary school, I believe). We have the 1970's era schoolhouse with bell, blue and yellow house, and open ceiling house (appears to be rather rare), plus a box filled with 1-2 dozen characters, cars, beds, chairs, swingsets, desks, bathtubs, toilet, sewing table, teacher desk, merry go round, etc. etc. It's a treasure trove, I think, and those are the items the girls play with the most. We also have the current iterations of the roller coaster/amusment park, airport, playground, parking garage, and schoolbus, most of which have no props to go with them. The garage is somewhat popular, but the others get played with a lot less.

[Piglet]

My kids were never into little people but I have friends with kids that ADORE them. Give it a bit more time.

[bubbaray]

My girls both love LP, still do. They get lots of play here.... Started when they were around 18, probably around 12m for DD#2. Well, earlier if you count when they were used as chew toys.

[srhs]

We (18mo DS1 and I) played with the Garage and Barn sets today for quite awhile...more than when he first got them all last Christmas. Garage is definitely his favorite, but he enjoys using the Barn set to name all the animals and their sounds. And, he calls the farmer, the "barner," which we think is hilarious. ;)

[hellokitty]

You know. Maybe it's just me, but I think that the vintage LP, like the stuff we played with was so much better than the present day LP. My siblings and I played quite a bit with our LP. I think that the size of the old LP figures was more appropriate, the newer ones are kind of squat and bigger, I like the older style better.

[s7714]

You know. Maybe it's just me, but I think that the vintage LP, like the stuff we played with was so much better than the present day LP. My siblings and I played quite a bit with our LP. I think that the size of the old LP figures was more appropriate, the newer ones are kind of squat and bigger, I like the older style better.

I like the old LP buildings better too. No electronic noises and better built! I still have my childhood LP barn, A-frame house and school house all packed away in a box in the garage. :) Man I loved those toys as a kid!

[srkaplan]

You know. Maybe it's just me, but I think that the vintage LP, like the stuff we played with was so much better than the present day LP. My siblings and I played quite a bit with our LP. I think that the size of the old LP figures was more appropriate, the newer ones are kind of squat and bigger, I like the older style better.

ITA- I had the schoolhouse when I was little, and the anniversary edition (which is supposed to be a re-make of it) is nowhere near as good. The details are lacking.