The magic of Christmas is a prodigy that returns every year, gathering the family around the tree. The decorations and the flashing lights, the ribboned packages and the wait for December 25th bring together young and old. Adults also feel a bit like children at Christmas, especially when gifts take them back to their childhood. Back in the days when just a little gift was enough to be happy, life was a game and we could remain enchanted for hours watching a train, playing with the ball or the toy cars, the puppets and the doll's house.
Yet, here at Hape, we believe that some traditional toys have all the credentials to conquer even today's children. For Christmas 2020, we want to present you with two stunning novelties inspired by the toys that made past Christmas magical. The Doll's House line and the Railway Construction Set will bring adults back to the atmosphere of their childhood Christmases. The modern and captivating appearance aims to conquer today's children, leaving unchanged the charm of these timeless toys.
Hape Dollhouse: growing up in a fabulous miniature world
Dollhouses are marvellous toys that leave children and adults equally in awe. The charm of these carefully furnished and decorated miniatures knows no boundaries of age, space, and time. Already in use in ancient Egypt, dollhouses reached the peak of their aesthetic perfection in Victorian England. With their tiny, detailed furniture and lifelike decorations, dollhouses are primarily an endless source of entertainment for children from three years of age. But they are also educational toys.
By indirectly experiencing imaginary plots, children develop imagination, thinking, and sociability. The Dollhouse series from Hape allows for a healthy role-playing and fictional game. Along with offering infinite ideas for imaginary stories, it also allows to relive and rework real-life events, expressing feelings and thoughts without filters or fears. Furthermore, by attributing different roles to characters and interpreting fictional dialogues, children develop social skills and empathy, learn to connect with others, improve vocabulary and language.
In summary, the role play enacted through the dollhouses allows children to stage imaginary situations or retrace the events of their days. Children learn to tell stories and describe circumstances, practice social skills, develop a healthy and articulated emotionality, expand their vocabulary and expression. These are the main reasons why Hape Dollhouse toys make great Christmas gifts.
More from the Dollhouse world: hit the road with the Adventure Van
A miniature world to explore and get lost in: Hape Dollhouse collection is a protected space where children can have fun rehearsing many real-life situations. Taking on different roles, they learn to deal with other members of the family or the group of peers, developing a problem-solving attitude. So, are you ready to leave for a memorable trip?
Let's hit the road with the cheerful Adventure Van equipped with everything you need for an extraordinary adventure in the land of fantasy.
The maps show the way to the sea, lake, or mountain. Once at their destination, kids can have fun with the hang glider or the surfboard, go fishing, and roast dinner on the bonfire. And then, after washing the dishes, they can camp under the stars. But no worries: all these activities are completely safe, since all the fun comes from exploring the countless accessories and transformations that the Adventure Van allows.
The toy includes:
• two surfboards and a hang glider;
• three navigation maps;
• a campfire, a picnic set for two, and several cooking accessories;
• a flip-top roof that turns into a water slide or wave to ride with surfboards;
• a cozy tent where the two dolls can sleep.
The sturdy wooden construction ensures a long life to the Adventure Van, all to personalize with DIY stickers. Moreover, the neutral colors make these toys suitable as gifts for both boys and girls. The lively decorations devoid of gender connotations, its dynamic and captivating characters, the interiors and exteriors rich in details invite boys and girls of various ages to experience a thousand activities together, becoming passionate about the world of sport and life in the open air.
As always, choosing a Hape toy means having many games in one and never getting bored. The Adventure Van Hape is a brilliant and original gift for Christmas that will make girls and boys aged three and up happy.
Have fun with the Furry Friends of the Veterinary Set
Green light to cuddles with the Furry Friends veterinary set, which will delight all animal lovers. This compact pet clinic includes a vet doll, a dog, a cat and everything else you need to take care of your beloved furry friends. The dog can enjoy chasing the frisbee in the fenced garden around the clinic, while the kitten climbs the fence. And after playing all day outdoors, put them in the tub for a bath before feeding them and finally go to sleep in their lovely kennels. And what if our furry friends aren't feeling well? No problem, the doctor is ready to do tests, injections and vaccinations to keep them strong and healthy at all times.
All mini-worlds of the Dollhouse and Adventure Kids lines can be customized and expanded with separate sets. The characters and animals, vehicles, furniture, and settings that make up this little universe are ideal for a little Christmas present. But if what you have in mind is an important gift for a child who has behaved very, very well, then perhaps what you are looking for is the gorgeous Doll Family Mansion. This tastefully furnished dream home is decorated with the utmost realism down to the smallest detail. The Hape Dollhouse line allows children to experience amazing adventures, enriching the world of their imagination with many emotions and nice friends.
At Christmas, make your child happy with a train toy
The city is another great setting for experiencing many adventures: thanks to the Railway set by Hape, goods and passengers can travel through ever-changing scenarios. The toy trains share with the dollhouses the same retro charm that has entertained children for generations. And the Railway Bucket-Builder-Set is no exception when it comes to the development benefits for our children. While relaxing and having fun, they start to plan and build, train patience, improve their abilities, and learn that there can be multiple solutions to a problem.
So why choose Hape Railway toys as a Christmas gift for a three-year-old and up boy or girl? Train constructions and tracks help develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, trial-and-error problem solving that proceeds with progressive adjustments, and the ability to relate A to B, C, etc. Like other pretend games, trains also help improve children's vocabulary, communication skills, and sociability. By assembling the different components of the tracks and the city, the little ones use descriptive terms, improving the movement and perception of space-time: before and after, above and below, left and right, through or around are concepts that become more and more familiar, as well as counting and sequencing. Finally, the trains stimulate creativity and imagination, as the track can be set up differently each time and combined with other accessories from the Hape Railway line.
Hape Railway: design and build your city
The Hape Railway line includes a range of independent and compatible products. In the top 10 of the gifts most requested in children's letters to Santa of all times, the Railway Bucket-Builder-Set allows you to design and build many settings. The system of high-quality wooden interlocking pieces elevates traditional toy trains to new levels. As budding engineers, children can build the station with a city around it, a mountain mine, and many other different settings, following the instructions or letting the imagination run free.
The Railway Bucket-Builder-Set includes:
• 50 interlocking wooden pieces that make up the rails and combine at will, even with other sets of the same line;
• A container with a transportable handle that participates in the game: the lower part of the box becomes a green hill while the lid transforms into a rocky mountain;
• Numerous pieces of wood allow you to embellish and customize your city and can be fitted or removed at any time.
Children can explore many paths and means of transportation, characters, sceneries, and jobs. The chance to expand the game over time makes it more and more exciting and suitable for different stages of life. Particularly suitable as a gift for the most adventurous children, the Emergency Service Headquarters includes the police station and the fire station. Always ready to take action in the event of fires, thefts, or misdeeds, firefighters and law enforcement officers can count on agile means to intervene quickly. The undivided attention to detail makes the game incredibly realistic.
Finally, if your little one tends to like technology, they will enjoy the Remote-Control Train. Thanks to a free app for mobile that drives it via Bluetooth, this technological train can move forward or backward, stop, and make five different sounds. Like the other elements of the series, the Remote-Control Train with charging cable is compatible with all systems of the Hape Railway series. Ideal for playing alongside older siblings and parents, the Hape Railway Construction system is a great family game to play on Christmas mornings. And once the game is over, the practical transportable box allows storing all the pieces so that everything stays in order.
