My Life Long Fisher-Price Little People Love Affair

I have a lifetime love affair with Fisher-Price Little People. When I was a kid Little People were one of my favourite toys. I played with them well into double digits, spending hours making elaborate multi-set layouts that spanned the living room floor. Of all the toys that came and went over the years those Little People stayed. And when it came time to retire our childhood toys for good the Fisher Price sets were some of the few toys my mom kept.

She still has them. When we visit my kids get to play with the sets I loved so much as a kid (only with careful adult supervision, as the older style pre-1991 Fisher Price Little People have been deemed a potential chocking hazard and really should be for “collectors only”). This is the best part of being a mom, watching my kids play with the same toys that I played with thirty years ago, and even better, getting down on the floor and playing with them.

At home my children have managed to collect numerous Little People sets of their own, mostly well appreciated gifts from relatives over the years. The girls spend hours playing quietly together, creating imaginative layouts that span the front room floor. Then they call for me to come and survey the kingdom they’ve created, and I get down on the floor and follow along on the tour as they explain just what’s going on. The princess is visiting the farm. The dragon’s there too, but it’s okay because he’s a vegetarian. The chicken and the pig were still nervous though, so they’re off hiding somewhere. And suddenly my tour has turned into a game of hide and seek, complete with Little People livestock.

Hint: Fisher-Price Little People toys make the best Birthday and Christmas gifts for the under 5 set.

My girls are very much at a stage where they mostly engage in imaginative play. The box may say ages 1-5, but I know they will likely still be playing with these sets for another few years. While the little one just turned 5, my oldest is 7 and she still loves playing with Little People, so I imagine they’ll be in our house for a while yet. When my girls are finally ready to move away from Little People I’ll likely pack them up and save them, just like my mom did with my favourite sets, so that one day they can have the joy of playing with them with their own kids.