Big City Wooden Airport, ELC

Big City Wooden Airport – Early Learning Centre

Having made the decision to review some of the toys/games that my son received for his birthday and Christmas last December, review number two is for the Early Learning Centre – Big City Wooden Airport which we bought for his third birthday in December.

I love wooden toys. They feel so much nicer to handle than plastic ones in my opinion, and with ‘super destruction’ my son, they last longer without breakages. The only problem is that they tend to be more expensive, and in a one-income family, that can be a real issue; especially when Monkey’s birthday is only two weeks before Christmas.  However, I learnt in 2011 that ELC tends to have a 50% sale in October so had my eyes open for an early bargain.

I’d seen the Early Learning Centre – Big City Wooden Airport on their website earlier in the year, but retailing at £50.00 it was a bit over our budget with other items we also wanted to buy him.  So I kept waiting and hoping that it would be part of the October ELC sales.  I was lucky!  and in October I bought it for £25.00 and hid it for my son’s birthday. A bargain.

Big City Wooden Airport

My parents live in Spain and we were flying over to see them in November to celebrate my Dad’s 70th birthday.  My son had been on a plane before but was only a year old then, so unlikely to remember the experience.  He loved everything about the trip and the airport and planes were a major hit, as I knew they would be.  I just knew that I’d bought him the right birthday present at that point.

The airport building was very easy to assemble and came with a three-piece jigsaw style runway, a couple of aeroplanes, a helicopter, car, fire engine, stair ramp and some barriers.  It has 360-degree play value which I also liked.

We assembled it the night before my son’s birthday and left it for him to find when he came downstairs the next morning.  He loved it immediately, it brought back all the memories from his trip to Spain and for him, it has been a way to include his grandparents in his play (even if they can’t be there physically).  He has played with it every day since his birthday, so has definitely been money well spent.  My job is to make his plane tickets and boarding cards – all flights are from Birmingham to the village where my parents live!  It’s been a hit with his buddies too; they are honoured to be able to join the flights.

Three months down the line, it looks as good as the day we gave it to him and has been used in so much imaginative play.  He uses it with his railway and garage and even his wooden castle to extend his imaginary world.

My only slight niggle would be with the runway – the ‘jigsaw’ construction is quite loose, so it comes apart easily in playtime which my son finds frustrating.

The Big City Wooden Airport is currently retailing at £40.00 (2012), which considering the amount of playtime my son has had with it, is very good value for money.  I would definitely recommend it.

The toy mentioned was bought by myself and the opinions expressed are my own, honest thoughts.

13 thoughts on “Big City Wooden Airport – Early Learning Centre

    1. We were so impressed with the ELC Big City Garage we bought him the year before, still in fab condition, especially since we had it as a 2 year old, that the airport was a must. Really was a bargain.

    1. Thank you, it’s easy for a toy/game to be a hit, but a ‘lasting hit’ is quite a different thing isn’t it? Also, if there is a way to break something Monkey will find it, so interesting to look back and see what has lasted and what hasn’t. Have a few more to put on the blog once the Easter holidays are out the way 🙂

  1. Wow that is so awesome. I love imaginative play. Children learn so much from it. I’m a pre-k teacher and I really push that type of play. I wish some parents would grasp the concept that they are learning. Thank you for sharing. I do have a question. i will be doing a community helpers unit this fall and I was wondering how you made your boarding passes and tickets. I am in no way computer savvy to make on the computer and I thought that would be so cute. The golden train tickets from our Polar Express were a big hit and I thought so would these. Can you share aphoto when you have a chance. Thank you. Mrs. Valerie

    1. Hi Valerie, thanks for your lovely comments. To be frank, I just cut some paper up into strips and handwrote them, based on the information from our last trip to Spain – so nothing complicated. I guess you could type something up on a wordpressor and photocopy to make them look more professional!

I'd love to hear from you and try to reply to all comments