This post includes sponsored links from Entropy, check the end of this post for a great giveaway.
The Castle Story
By Noah – aged 4.
Once upon a time there was a castle.
In front of the castle there was a big forest, at the edge of the forest there was a river, and after that was The Land of Giant Mushrooms.
Lots of people lived in the castle, including fairies, knights, a prince, a princess, and a wizard.
The castled was defended by some brave knights, a boy with an eagle, and a friendly dragon. They needed to be very brave, because some baddies lived in the The Land of Giant Mushrooms and they were really really bad, and mean.
The boss of the baddies was the evil fairy queen. There was also a bad knight and all kinds of scary baddies.
One day the evil queen made her baddies attack the castle!
There was a big fight, and lots of shouting, and some blood, and the wizard did a spell, and one of the knights died. Then the other knight shouted “Send out the dragon!”
The big friendly dragon swooped down and caught the queen and put her in the dungeon.
Then they put up the draw bridge and the people in the castle could all go to sleep and be safe.
The end.
It may look like just a bit of playful fun and it is… but while my four year old sets up the castle scene and then acts out his story with the figurines, he is also totally immersed in holistic learning. He is using skills from every developmental area as he imagines the scene and creates the story.
He is using his motor skills and co-ordination to build the scene and balance the figurines on the turrets. He is practicing pre-reading skills by making up his own story with characters, a beginning, a middle and an end. He is figuring out social issues like what makes a character a goodie and what makes them a baddie and what happens when they die?
I could go on listing skills that Noah is using and developing as he plays with the castle, but you get the idea, this may just be a bit of imaginative play but it is also a whole lot of learning.
This is why I love imaginative play, because it combines multiple skills and you can just about see the learning and growing happening right before your eyes!
Win Your Own Castle and Figurines from Entropy.
This competition is now closed.
Congratulations to ‘A.S’ who’s clever story including the word ‘entropy’ won them this fab prize!
Over the years we have collected lots of great figurines for imaginative play and we added the great castle one Christmas. People often ask me where we got the Schleich and Papo figures from and where the great castle came from and I’m always happy to recommend a great Australian toy shop – Entropy.
I shop online with Entropy every Christmas and have always been impressed with their range and service, so when they contacted me asking if I would like to work with them I was super excited! And I’m even more excited to give away a fabulous Papo castle play set from Entropy!
One lucky reader will win this amazing Papo Weaponmaster Castle (RRP $169), a Papo Castle Baseboard (RRP $19.95) and $50 worth of Papo figurines!
To enter pop over to the entropy site and check out the Papo figurines, then leave a comment on this post telling me which figurines would live in your castle and why. The most interesting, or funny comment will win.
Which Papo figurines would live in your castle and why?
Terms and Conditions.
You must be an Australian resident with an Australian post address to enter.
You must provide a valid email address and entries are limited to one per household.
Entries close Wednesday September 3rd 2014 at midday EST.
One winner will be contacted by email and announced on this post before September 30th 2014.
Entries will be judged on merit and creativity.
Prizes include a Papo Weaponmaster Castle (RRP $169), a Papo Castle Baseboard (RRP $19.95) and $50 worth of Papo figurines and postage within Australia.
Prizes may differ to those shown here and the figurines component of the prize are not necessarily those shown in the image and will be selected by Entropy staff to the nearest monetary value of $50.
The winner must contact me within 5 days or the prize will be re-drawn.
The winner agrees to have their contact details passed on to the appropriate PR company or brand representative who will send out/organise the prizes directly.
{disclosure: This is a feature post – find more information about feature posts here. The castle and figurines featured in this post belong to my children and were bought from Entropy and other stores, over many years, prior to this arrangement. The opinions shared in this post are my own. }
Quimby says
Once upon a time, long ago, a mermaid queen built a castle under water. She was not just a queen – she was also a witch. She cast spells on her underwater tenants, an octopus, walrus, and fish, and turned them into mutant pirates. With this fearsome band of n’er-do-wells she fought human pirates on their ship, stealing their gold and hiding it in her underwater castle.
Until one day, James Cameron turned up in his sub . . . and she found a much better capture. She held him hostage. Unfortunately, as nobody had forgiven him yet for Titanic, nobody much cared, and she had to release him without the ranson ever being paid. (Okay, so there’s no James Cameron figure, but I’m sure I could find a Lego Minifig to fill in for him . . .)
karina l says
I love that chubby little witch figurine. Reminds me of my grandma who only has 2 teeth left as well.
Rebecca Baker says
My Castle would be ruled
By Dragons!
Firey angry dragons!
No one would dare get into the castle.
My dragons would turn them Charcoal!
Cheryl Moulton says
My castle would have to have The Queen of Fairies, The Princesses with their birds The Blue Fairys’ horse and now medieval setting is complete without a dragon. There must be the unicorn just because and some strong defenders in the King and his men. The story would unfold in a variety of ways with each playtime. My granddaughters would insist on a romance, a dashing prince or warrior to save the princess from the dragon and other monsters and a fairy tale ending
Diana says
Mermaid 39051, to swim in the moat surrounding my castle. This way there would be no need for battles and wars that would damage my mansion or harm its inhabitants as all the bad guys would be besotted by her beauty and beautiful voice, as she splashes in the water and serenades them with lovely songs, capturing their hearts and affections, making them want to woo and win her, not destroy the amazing fortress she so adores and calls her home.
DIANA O says
Bride Blue Lace & the Evil armored black knight, who has forced her into marriage by torturing her family in the cells below…….
His best man the Faceless Horseman the only witness to this atrocity the Black knight calls love. When the I do’s have been said, both will be flown to the highest tower of the castle on the back of the Black Pegasus. Sadly my castle will be filled with doom and gloom, it’s grounds filled with darkness…..Cerberus of Darkness, skeleton horse, cerberus & cyberdragon to name a few.
Michelle V says
With three girls but no castle in sight
For them, this would be the most welcoming delight!
For my youngest Kayla, who is aged 4
The beautiful Elf Butterfly is what she’d adore
For Nikki, aged 7, the dancing princess and princess with treasure chest
Would certainly be the ones she would love best
And for Penni, aged 10, a dragon or glow in the dark ghost
Would be what she would enjoy the most!!
Maree S says
So I asked Mr 4 what he thinks. Apparently the ghost rider is what he would want the most because he is the most awesome and he could fight all of the baddies.
Mrs W says
We’d have to get the Mermaid – because anytime my 4-year old is asked the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, her answer is always “a mermaid”.
Maybe she could live in a moat around the castle and lure enemy knights to their watery doom. Maybe I want to play with this castle more than my daughter does.
Cynthia says
Mr 4’s Papo Knight Pegasus figurine would live in our castle because he has a special spot in my family’s heart!
Mr 4 spotted him at a cute little toy store in the city and begged for him. We don’t always give in, especially as he’d just had a treat but we were high on pancakes and the thrill of a fun day out so gave in. Well when we got home I took him out of my handbag and Mr 4 wouldn’t play with him because “he’s too scary” *sigh*
So Daddy says well that’s OK I’ll have him if you don’t want him and put him on his desk. 2 weeks later we checked on Mr 4 one night and he was sound asleep clutching the knight. In the morning I asked if he’d stopped being scary and he says “yeah we’re friends now”
He’s now been named Nigel the not scary knight LOL
Melissa says
We have Australian animals, ocean animals, farm animals and dinosaurs, but until now it never occurred to us to enter the world of knights and fantasy characters.
Master almost seven would choose the skeleton to clean the castle toilets and Miss three would choose the galactic-Cerberus because a three headed puppy would be better than a one headed puppy and I would choose the Minotaur to do all the cooking as he is my alter ego.
Teena Lewis says
My daughter would definitely have the wizard in her castle, because all castles are magical as far as she is concerned, just ask Barbie!
Tara says
Amazing giveaway! My 4 year old son has autism so we spend a lot of time trying to teach him play skills, but he is obsessed with horses so I’m sure we’d have to include some of those. My 2 year old daughter loves everything girly so she’d probably want princesses or fairies, but she is also really into dinosaurs and loves it when the dinosaurs eat her other toys, or her mum. So a dinosaur would be critical for our collection, after all, we don’t want those princesses lives to be too cushy. Nothing better than a princess-eating dinosaur. Thanks!
Sandra says
My boys have said they would pick all the figurines with the swords and axes. So they could have lots of fights around the castle and see who would be the last survivor. Then they would start all over again and someone else would win.
Christie-Childhood 101 says
Oh, we love the Papo figurines, I think we have all of the fairies, elves and pegasi and I even bought a whole collection of them last year from Entropy for Immy’s kindy class…that’s how much we love them, and Entropy! :)
In our castle would reside
An enchantress who would have to hide
From the dragon red and the dragon green
In the hope that she would not be seen!
A dancing prince to save the day
And wizard wise with which to play
They’ll both protect the enchantress dear
Though she’s likely to feed them to the dragons I fear!
Jessica Robinson says
They look so brilliant. My 5 year old would be most keen for the princess with the treasure chest because she’s really keen on treasure and maps at the moment. My 2 year old loves skeletons so the skeleton figure and the horse skeleton would be her new best friends (she has a whole clan of skeletons lol).
trixi symonds says
What an awesome castle. Monsters and ogres are definitely the top pick to live in it!
Jodie Stephenson says
Definately Galactic Cerberus … and we would call him Fluffy!!! We could pretend we are in Hogwarts!!!!
Madeleine Neate says
Oh, it will have to be the woman warrior for us! What is a castle without a heroine to lead to fight. Having both a boy and a girl, we feel that both have no limited and heroes come in all sizes. ????
Kylie @ Octavia and Vicky says
Is there a figurine that brings gentle slumber to grizzly kids? Cos I could really do with one of those! Otherwise my vote goes to the mermaid :)