Introducing Little Tikes Tikes Place play house

One of the things that I absolutely love to do at the weekend is watch the girls play together. When we decided to have a second child, one of the first things I thought about was Erin having someone to play with, and I really looked forward to the days where the my two children could sit and engage – laugh together, talk together and share their toys. Sure there would be occasional squabbles, but those precious moments in between where they enjoy each others company would make it all worth it.

Both girls have always had great imaginations, and Erin in particular has always loved acting out little scenes with characters and making up stories in her head. When I saw that Little Tikes had created a play house with 360 degree play – something that both girls could interact with at the same time, it seemed ideal as a gift for Neve’s 2nd birthday. Not only did it come with a little family of characters, but featured some of the girl’s favourite Little Tikes products, just like the ones we have in our garden!

About Tikes Place

Tikes Place is a large interactive play house from Little Tikes packed with lights, sounds and fun activities from every angle, encouraging imaginative and creative play. Ideal for siblings to share, Tikes Place can be played with independently from both sides, meaning that two children can play at the same time without fighting for the houses’ key features.

Tikes Place comes with four family figures (a Mum, Dad, Daughter and Baby) and over 12 accessories, seven of which are mini-versions of your favourite Little Tikes items, including the iconic Cosy Coupe car, sandpit and slide!

With pull out floor sections (a patio and back garden) to extend the play space, and external lights on the one side that really light up, Tikes Place also includes interactive sound elements such as a working doorbell and flushing toilet.

Children will enjoy acting out their creative scenes and bringing their stories to life.  A great gift for ages three and up, Tikes Place retails at X.

Our Review of Little Tikes Tikes Place

The Little Tikes Tikes Place does require some initial assembly, however it is fairly quick and straight forward to piece together, with most of the sections of the house simply clicking into place, with just a couple of parts requiring a small screw to secure the pieces into place.

The set also comes with two stickers to apply – one a family portrait photograph for on the wall on the landing upstairs, and the second a large rug for at the top of the stairs.

The house comes with lots of accessories including the Cosy Coupe car, a mini trampoline, a sandpit and slide, as well as a kitchen unit with real opening cupboards, a table and two chairs, and a bath. These are all free standing and can be moved around the house as your child wishes, providing lots of freedom to create scenes of their choice.

The girls were super excited when we put Tikes Place together on the morning of Neve’s birthday, so much so that we didn’t even manage to get them dressed before they set to work in putting it through it’s paces!

Tikes Place requires 3 AA batteries, which are to power the sounds on the doorbell, flushing toilet and the exterior lights of the property.

First Impressions of Tikes Place

My first impressions of the Little Tikes Tikes Place were really positive. Its a large and sturdy set with 360 degree play, meaning it’s ideal for the girls to share and both play together at the same time. It also has a large handle on the roof meaning it is easily portable and can be moved around and transferred between rooms or packed away quickly and easily when required.

Tikes Place has two floors to the property, and two sections (the garden and patio) which pull out to expand the floor space, and can then be neatly tucked away underneath when the house is not being used. This is great for when it comes to tidying up, as it means Tikes Place can be placed right next to the wall and out of the way when not in use.

To assist with game play parts of the floor have little noddules sticking up, and these enable children to pop the characters on and hold them in place. Erin was old enough to figure this out, but Neve (who is slightly younger than the sets recommended age) needed a little help with this.

There are four characters included – a Mum, Dad, Sister and Baby with the 3 larger characters having poseable arms and legs which bend at the knees, meaning they can be moved around and posed into different positions during play. That said, getting them to stay on the little chairs around the table was pretty much impossible, even at my age let alone for little ones! 

Great for imagination, it’s been fun watching the girls act out little scenes with the characters, including tapping the figures up and down the staircase, popping them in the bathtub, using the toilet (and leaving the seat up – tut tut Daddy!) as well as driving around in their little car. The side of the house has a little ramp for running the car up and down, and Neve enjoyed watching it shoot off when she pushed it down the ramp.

Neve’s favourite part of Tikes Place is the little swing set, although she does need help getting the baby in and out as this can be a little bit fiddly. The seat flips down so you can pop her in before securing her into place. The swing actually rocks backwards and forwards, which Neve found hilarious.

From a parent’s point of view, I think it’s great that the items in the garden are just like the ones we have at home, as they were instantly recognisable to Neve even at a young age.

The only improvement I would suggest is that it would have been great if there had been somewhere to store the accessories so that they didn’t get lost, however presumably this would’ve increased the size of the set. That said, none of the pieces are particularly small, so I don’t see this being a major problem.

Overall the Little Tikes Tikes Place has been a huge hit, and definitely one of Neve’s favourites from her recent birthday. I love that the set is something the girls can interact with together, and although there is occasionally some squabbling about who sits on which side, or who gets to hold the Little Tikes Cosy Coupe next, they have generally played together really nicely. It’s been really lovely to watch.

You can learn more about Little Tikes Tikes Place here.

The Little Tikes Tikes Place is available to purchase at LINK and has an RRP of £64.99. It is currently on offer at Argos for £60.

If you too are a big fan of Little Tikes products you may want to see some of our other Little Tikes reviews here.

*Disclosure – we were sent the Little Tikes Tikes Place free of charge for the purpose of this review, however as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own*