Regardless of their gender or race, kids love fairy tales. It enables them to see a very different world, one that is completely different from the real world. When children watch fairy tales, they make use of their imagination and creative energy to put on a show of being the kings, queens, princes and princesses. And since kings, queens, princes and princesses usually live in a castle, kids tend to be fascinated by castles. Therefore, if you are wondering what gift you can buy for your kid, you can’t go wrong with the best castle toys.
A castle toy will make for a great gift for any kid in the world, whether they’re boys or girls. Through their imaginations, they create different stories centered around the different characters that come along with the castle.
Besides, they can involve other toys as well in their pretend-play and make their favorite toys leading characters in their own stories. The best toy castles come with different building features and accessories to inject more fun and excitement into the kids’ role playing and play acting.
However, since you’re not a kid and it’s difficult to think like one, how do you choose the best play castle for your child?
That’s where we come into the equation. We have browsed through the different types, shapes, materials, and styles of castle toys, and we have compiled a list of the best one.
In this guide, we have reviewed the best castle toys for kids, and we have also provided a couple of tips you may find useful in your quest to buy the best castle toy for your kid.
If you don’t have time to read the complete article, check out our top 3 castle toys to review:
- Fisher-Price Imaginext Eagle Talon Castle
- Bigjigs Toys, King George’s Wooden Castle Toy
Disney Princess Magical Lights & Dancing Castle Musical Toy
Benefits of a Toy Castle
If you like the idea of a toy castle, but unsure of the ways will benefit your kids, then you need to pay attention here. Below are some benefits of a toy castle to children.
Improves Fine Motor Skills
While playing with castle toys, children need to figure out how to move differently shaped objects and manipulate them, and also possess the fine motor skills to click them into their places. This helps bolster motor strength and also motor planning and visual skills.
Improves Spatial Awareness
Castle toys help children improve their spatial skills which is essential for reading keenness. As children build and move the toys, they need to comprehend spatial organization so as to construct a structure that doesn’t topple over.
Encourages Thinking and Reasoning
Each time a kid builds and constructs a castle, children have to utilize their critical thinking skills. Also, they have to solve problems in the process while pretending to be princes and princesses of the castles. These skills help kids to become independent, well-rounded, and successful adults.
Sparks the Imagination
Castle toys enable kids to form their own stories and fantasy worlds. Using their imagination improves academic, language, social, and cognitive development. As they construct structures, they construct structures as well which results in greater verbal skills.
Encourages Cooperative Play
Castle toys encourage social and cooperative play in kids through both castle building and play acting. Kids can construct the castle as a team and display a great collaboration to finish the tasks. When it comes to role playing, kids can take on some characters like Elsa or Anna from Frozen, and together redo scenes from the popular kiddies movie. Castle toys are also capable of helping kids that are socially awkward since the castle is familiar to them, they will find it easy to ignite a conversation with other kids from there.
Improves Psychomotor Skills
Castle toys that come with moving parts, like a catapult or a hand-powered elevator, usually improve psychomotor skills. Psychomotor skills allude to the brain-processing movement coupled with mental activity. Thus, even the construction of the castle can improve psychomotor development.
How to Choose the Best Castle Toy
With different makes and models of castle toys out there, it is a bit difficult to choose the right castle toy for your child. If you, however, take the factors below into consideration, we are confident that you will be able to pick the right castle toy for your child.
Safety: Safety is and always should be the primary factor in every decision related to your children. While buying castle toys, parents have to ensure that the castle toys are totally safe to be played with by kids. The materials should not contain any toxicity and you should check if it doesn’t have very small parts that can be eaten by kids.
Durability: We all know how destructive children can be when it comes to their play things, so it’s important to take durability into consideration when choosing the best castle toys for your kids. Castle toys are usually made with either plastic or wood. While we think wooden castle toys are sturdier than plastic ones, plastic ones seem to be the most popular castle toys.
Price: Generally speaking, the bigger the castle toy, the costlier it will be. A good castle toy for kids doesn’t necessarily have to be costly or complex. As long as it enhances creativity, bolsters the cognitive senses, and allows little kids to move around, there should be no going wrong with it.
Age: Purchasing a toy that isn’t age-appropriate for your kid will lead to many problems. It won’t probably be entertaining and engaging to the kid since it is made for older or younger children.
If a castle toy is made for older children, it might be unsafe for a younger child to play with such toy. By picking age-appropriate castle toys for your kid, you can ensure that the toys was specifically made for the needs and interests of that particular age group.
More About Castle Toys:
- Safety:
The major safety problem associated with castle toys are the little pieces involved in the toy’s construction. Majority of the castle toys around are beneficial since kids can construct and amend the castles. However, this poses a choking hazard to smaller kids. Thus, when buying a castle toy for your kids, make sure you always check the recommended age range to make sure you’re purchasing an appropriate toy.
Some castle toys are made for little kids and over-sized pieces are therefore used to avoid choking hazards. If you are unsure about the recommended age range of a toy, to the website of the brand and check under the description of the toy. If you still are unable to find it, you might be better off staying away from that particular castle toy.
- Recommended Age:
Like we said already, various castle toys have various recommended ages due to the fact that different toy companies attend to different kinds of consumer needs. But most of these toys range from the age of 3 to 10. This is due to the fact that several castle toys have smaller pieces that younger kids younger below the age of 3 could choke on.
10 being the age cap is primarily because kids above 10 years tent to lose interest or can’t gain much from these toys again. If the toys aren’t interfering with the overall development of your child, they you should allow them to play with the toys as much as they want. However, if you notice an unhealthy attachment to these toys, then you might need to intervene.
Top 3 Best Castle Toys Reviews
Based on the interests of your kids, there are different types of castle toys on the market. Below are our top 3 best castle toys and their reviews.
1. Fisher-Price Imaginext Eagle Talon Castle Toy:
This is a 5 five star toy according to more than 300 user reviews.
The Fisher Price Eagle Talon Castle allows your child to experience Medieval times. Give your child’s creative ability a chance to shine as he leads a mysterious world where he can play either as a knight guarding and protecting the castle or the thundering dragon attempting to rip the castle apart.
This transforming toy gives your kid a chance to be a lot of things he wants to be, as it comes with two catapults, 2 figure turn discs, 8 firing discs for the catapults, an action-tech cannon with 2 projectiles, 2 ladders, 4 flags, a treasure chest, and of course, 2 knights with identical helmets, swords, and shields.
Furthermore, the castle toy comes with awesome light-up features and sound effects that can come alive when you use the 2 AA batteries included in the package. This castle toy improves self-expression, since your kid gets to play whatever and whoever he wants inside the castle. The toy also improves confidence in a way as he fights tooth and nail against his foes to protect the castle. It’s also a nice thing that you can set the castle up in 4 different ways so that your kid can enjoy different plays at different times.
Pros
- Features awesome sound effects.
- The toy is very durable.
- Can be set up in 4 different ways.
- Comes with many fun accessories.
Cons
- Comes with a lot of little pieces, easy to lose by kids.
2. Bigjigs Toys, King George’s Wooden Castle Toy:
Are you looking for someone that will allow your child to feel like a king or queen at all times?
This Bigjigs Toys medieval toy castle has plenty of play value for encourages imaginative, creative and dexterity, hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. The wooden toys are made from premium quality and sustainably sourced wood. This medieval toy castle has a working drawbridge, balconies and doors. Besides, knights toys even a secret door so they can sneak out without being seen by the enemy. Change flags depending on who claims the castle first.
Then the Bigjigs Toys medieval toy castle might be the ideal option. With wooden pieces all easily slot together, this castle toy can be built exactly to the specifications of your children and inspire their imaginative plays for several hours.
Afterwards, they can pull the assembly down and start all over. Also, this medieval castle toy from Bigjigs Toys allows your kids to learn logic, design, spatial reasoning, and placement as they fight.
However, the main drawback of this castle toy is its hefty price tag. But rest assured that it will provide real value for money provided you have the financial muscle to buy it for your kid.
Also, the colors of the parts are boring but since the parts are wooden, you can easily paint them to the favorite colors of your kid.
Pros
- Very interactive and adaptable.
- Easy to assemble.
- Great size and design for little kids.
- Allows for endless imaginative play.
Cons
- The parts aren’t durable but that’s a common problem with toys.
3. Disney Princess Magical Lights & Dancing Castle Musical Toy:
The Disney Princess Magical Lights & Dancing Castle Musical Toy is a beautifully designed wooden castle toy that is sure to excite and delight your little tot. The castle is a hinged toy that can just open up for extended play, and it compactly closes up thereby taking up little storage space. Further, the castle comes with toy stands over 32 inches tall and includes a sofa, stool, vanity, wardrobe, a bean bag chair and shell-inspired chair so kids can imagine all the dolls relaxing together. Kids can build their collection with other Disney Princess dolls like Jasmine, Aurora, Ariel, Cinderella…
Additionally, kids can imagine this Disney Princess characters lounging in style in this large doll house with 3 hangers that can hang in the wardrobe, pretend food accessories, spoon, fork, book, different drink cups, chip bag, bottle, or chandelier.
Furthermore, the toy doesn’t require any assembly and it’s ready for use since all the kids need to do is open the castle and enjoy. The castle is very durable which means it will last for many years of wonderful playtime. Space to play inside toys like this one is always important, so this castle has 2 levels of large area in which kids can put toy figures and other accessories to improve their playtime.
Pros
- Contains 3 play stages, coupled with an open courtyard
- Sides pull open for expanded play.
- Assembly isn’t necessary
- Makes a great gift for girls 5 years of age and up.
Cons
- Dolls not included and subject to availability.
- Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.
Conclusion:
Castle toys are perfect for children because they bolster and encourage imaginative play and enable children to creatively come with fairy tales and stories of their own. Depending on their various interests, there are lots of castle toys you can pick for your kids. For example, if your girl never gets bored of Princess-related stuffs, then you might choose a dollhouse themed castle for her. With a boy who is into action-packed stuffs, then choose a toy that will let him playact as a knight guarding the castle.
Images source: Amazon.com