My daughter Rosie is five years old and she has opinions. Strong ones, clearly expressed, about what she likes and what she doesn't. She likes animals, adventures, small things, and stories where someone is in charge of looking after someone else. She does not like toys that do things for her. She wants to be the one making things happen.
Finding toys that match this particular combination of preferences is, it turns out, a very specific challenge. I've bought things that were too passive, things that were too complicated, things that were beautiful but fragile, things that were robust but dull. The Sylvanian Families Exciting Exploration Set is the first thing I've bought in a long time that was exactly right from the moment she opened it.
What I Was Looking For
Rosie's birthday was coming up and I wanted something that would genuinely engage her imagination rather than just occupy her attention. There's a difference, and it matters. Toys that occupy attention are fine — they give you twenty minutes of quiet — but toys that engage imagination are the ones that get played with for months, that get incorporated into elaborate ongoing stories, that she comes back to again and again because the play isn't finished yet.
She'd been interested in Sylvanian Families for a while — she'd seen them at a friend's house and been immediately drawn to the small, detailed figures and the world-building quality of the range. I'd been looking at various sets trying to work out which one to start with, and the Exciting Exploration Set caught my attention immediately.
The exploration theme was perfect for Rosie. She loves adventure stories. She loves the idea of setting off somewhere with a bag full of equipment and a map. And the dynamic of the set — a big brother looking after his adventurous little sister — resonated with something she'd been playing out in her imaginative games for months. She has a younger cousin she adores and is fiercely protective of. This set was made for her.
What's in the Set
The Sylvanian Families Exciting Exploration Set includes two Latte Cat figures — Mick the boy and Mabel the baby — both dressed in exclusive explorer outfits that are beautifully detailed for their scale. The accessories are what make it special: a lantern, a safari hat, a rucksack, binoculars, and a map. Each one is small, precise, and exactly the kind of thing a five-year-old who loves adventure stories will immediately understand the purpose of.
The quality of the figures is the thing that struck me first when I opened the box. Sylvanian Families figures have a particular charm — soft-faced, warmly coloured, with an expression that manages to be both simple and full of character. Mick and Mabel are no exception. They're crafted with the signature attention to detail that makes the range so collectible, and the explorer outfits are a lovely specific touch that makes this set feel distinct rather than generic.
The Morning She Opened It
Rosie opened it on her birthday morning, looked at the figures for about three seconds, and then said "they're going on an expedition" with the absolute certainty of someone who has already decided what the story is. She named Mick and Mabel within the first five minutes — she kept the names, which I found touching — and had them setting off through the living room with the map and binoculars before I'd finished my coffee.
The lantern became very important. She decided the expedition was happening at night (the living room rug is apparently a forest after dark) and Mick was responsible for carrying the lantern to keep Mabel safe. She narrated the whole thing in a running commentary that went on for nearly an hour. I sat on the sofa and listened and felt the particular quiet joy of watching a child completely absorbed in something.
That evening she set them up on her bedside table — mid-expedition, she explained, they were resting before the next part of the journey. They've been on her bedside table ever since, in various configurations depending on where the story has got to.
Three Months On
The Exploration Set is still the most-played-with thing in Rosie's room. Mick and Mabel have been on approximately forty expeditions since her birthday, by my rough count. The accessories have all survived intact — the map, the binoculars, the lantern, the rucksack, the safari hat — which is genuinely impressive given the enthusiasm with which they're handled. The figures themselves are robust and have held up to daily play without any deterioration.
We've since added a few more Sylvanian Families pieces to her collection, because once you see how much imaginative play a well-designed set like this generates, it's hard not to want to expand the world. But the Exploration Set remains the heart of it. Mick and Mabel were first, and they're the ones she always comes back to.
My Verdict
If you're looking for a gift for a child who loves animals, adventure, and imaginative storytelling — or if you're starting a Sylvanian Families collection and want a set with genuine narrative potential — the Sylvanian Families Exciting Exploration Set is the one to start with. It's beautifully made, thoughtfully designed, and it generates the kind of play that goes on for months rather than minutes.
Find it in our Toys collection and our wider Toys & Games collection. Let the expedition begin.
— Sophie Hartmann
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