Mattel Play, Liverpool turns three!

A couple of weeks ago we ventured to Liverpool to Mattel Play to celebrate their 3rd birthday. Mattel Play is situated on the beautiful Albert Dock in Liverpool. Liverpool Docks are lovely to walk around as well as having a gorgeous Marco Pierre White restaurant, Wheel of Liverpool and the Liverpool exhibition centre. There are plenty of places to eat and grab brunch in Liverpool before going for a play.

I’m sure everyone has heard of Mattel Toys, especially if you have children that are fans of Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam and Thomas and Friends. Mattel Play bring these characters to live and enable the children to interact with their favourite characters. I took Lucas last year and returned after being invited* to celebrate their third birthday.

Mattel Play is separated into three zones.

Thomas and Friends

Within the Thomas and Friends area, you find Thomas and Rosie that the children can climb aboard and play on. There is also a miniature Sir Handel that the children can ride on around the track. Lucas and his friend really enjoyed riding on Sir Handel. You can also cross the tracks to get onto the farm where you can plant and sort the fruit and veg. We didn’t go in this area last time but Lucas and K spent quite a while there this time, reorganising the produce! You can also go and play on Harold in his ball pool and help Cranky on the docks.

Bob the Builder

When you walk into the Bob the Builder area, you are greeted by a huge Scoop that you can climb on and play. The children can grab safety jackets and hats to join Bob’s crew and look the part. There are smaller diggers where Lucas tried to dig and move sand but he struggled with this, they were quite hard to move. There is also a section where you can construct with Mega Bloks and some light boxes to support children to sketch.

Fireman Sam

When you go into the Fireman Sam zone, you can pick up fire fighter helmets to help Sam and the crew. There is a huge Jupiter to climb aboard and play on as well as interactive parts on the side of her to play with. You can also climb onto Titan and Juno for some ocean rescue action, swing down the fireman’s pole and go into Dilys’ grocery store for a spot of shopping or be the shop keeper.

Special appearances

As it was a celebration of Mattel Play being open 3 years, there was also a birthday cake and we all sang happy birthday. The children also got to play pass the parcel which they loved. The Fat Controller read a story and Fireman Sam came to meet everyone. What I love about Mattel Play, is that these appearances are normal and not just for special occasions. There are daily appearances from either Bob the Builder or Fireman Sam. The Fat Controller is also around on Friday, Saturdays and Sundays between 10-4.

I went with two 4 year olds and a 1 year old and they all had a great time. The enjoyed immersing themselves into what they only usually see on tv and bringing it to life x