Le Toy Van is a large wooden castle that offers lots of scope for imaginative play, and immediately grabbed my children’s attention – especially my younger toy boys aged 3 and 5 years old.
We were sent the Le Toy Van Excalibur Castle for review, from the Wooden Toy Shack.
The castle’s dimensions are 45 x 39 x 50 cm, and you can get an idea of that size compared to the size of my 3 year old (above). There’s some minimal assembly to put the castle together, which was quick and easy to do with just a little bit of screwing pieces together and the majority just slotting in to place, and then if required you can un slot the pieces, and fold the base board in half to store – although we have been keeping the castle set up in the boys’ playroom since it looks great and that gives them easy access to play.
It’s important to mention that the set does not come with any figurines or characters, so you can either use your own or buy Budkins figures from Le Toy Van which are the perfect size for the set (although any figures around 10cm will be fine). My boys were very happy to use their own figures with the set, bringing in favourite dragons and some unconventional characters into the castle too like their Amiibo figurines! As they are getting older, combining this type of toy with their wooden toys brings more longevity to their wooden toys and fuels their imagination as they make up stories.
The Excalibur castle features a working draw bridge door, a prison, a removable section of wall, and a ladder to help the figures explore both levels of the castle. It also has a pulley system, a flag and lots of detailing. Due to it’s large size it’s great for siblings to play together as they can all easily fit around the castle.
The way the castle is designed makes it easy for children to access all areas of the castle, and really get in there to play. This is better than other wooden castles that we had previously.
The Excalibur castle from Le Toy Van is a great quality wooden toy and we have been really pleased with it. I would recommend it, and it should last well from the toddler years right up until school age, making it great value.
The castle has an RRP of RRP £59.50, and is currently discounted on the Wooden Toy Shack, and comes with free postage too!
Wooden Toy Shack is a new online toy shop founded by 3 Brighton dads, specialising in wooden toys. They have a wide range of wooden toys, all displayed with gender neutral labelling on a site which is optimised for easy browsing whether you’re on mobile, tablet or web.
The brand strap line ‘naturally more creative’ encompasses the belief that wooden toys tend to offer a more sustainable alternative, and can provide toddlers with years of highly rewarding, play-based learning – which is something that I’ve definitely seen with our own family too.
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
What a fabulous castle, toys like these offer so much scope for imaginative play. This looks great.
This looks incredible, I’d love to get it for my son! Great post, thank you!