LEGO Friends 3065: Olivia's Tree House

Bought for 4th Birthday gift. Had to fend off recipiants older siblings wanting to help build it. Birthday girl and I sat down and set about building the kit. The guide book is very clear, and each page adds just 1 to 5 pieces at a time. Easy to follow for an adult or anyone with previous lego build experience. This was Birthday girl's first lego, so we took it very slowly as she had never seen an instruction book before. She soon got the gist of what was needed from the pictures, and counting lego spots.

The kit includes Olivia the small doll, plus a kitten, a tweety bird, lego butterflies and even lego ladybirds. The green branches of the tree move side to side, the ladder lifts up and down. There is a bowl for feeding the kitten and a fish to go in the bowl and a carton of milk with a tiny picture of a cow on it. Lots of blossom flowers to add to the tree or the garden.

There is even a secret branch which when moved reveals a treasure box where two lego gem stones are stored. Thank goodness lego have now brought out kits for girls. We had girls lego in the 1970's with house furniture and cookers and sinks and so on, but they haven't for years had anything comparable for young ladies.

This is the first of the Lego friends kits I have bought, and seeing how popular it was in a house of mixed age girls, it won't be the last. With several young female family member birthdays coming up, this year's gift buying difficulties are solved
as each has chosen a different set.

My advice would be, adult supervision required (and what adult doesn't enjoy lego too?) for initial construction for 4-6 year olds not familiar with following instruction books. Older girls should not face too many problems with the kit by themselves. Reading skills not essential as the guide book is very well illustrated step by step.

Don't be put off by the price. You do get a lot of useful lego pieces for the money, and lego is versatile and will last decades. We still have lego from my childhood and that is 40+ years ago. This new series includes sky blue,pink and purple lego which I personally haven't seen before.

The doll is a lot bigger than regular lego people, they attach by holes in their shoes. However unlike regular lego people the legs do not move independently of each other. Doll either sits or stands both legs are one unit. The arms are separately moveable.

Yes I would buy this kit again for a girl in a different family, and will be buying more of the series for the sisters of the Birthday girl that received this kit.

I hope this review is of help to anyone thinking about buying Olivia's tree house set, as it is the first review.

I always thought lego was pretty unisex but this set has been a real success with the pink and purpleness.
From start to finish I found it takes about an hour to put the set together without any adult help. The age range states 6-12 and today I've had a 7 and 11 year old put it together with ease (although the 11 year old Olivia professes this is too young for her and says don't buy this as a gift for 9+). The instructions are easy to follow and contain lots of new interesting pieces not commonly found in lego sets.
The doll is excellent - a far cry from the clunky, old fashioned looking duplo dolls set of old. This is more tiny polly pocket with a modern edge. There are a few old holes e.g. in the hair, cat and duck which is presumably to stop the set being an immediate choking hazard if younger children get hold of it but it doesn't detract from the quality look of the set.
The finished build is about palm high squared sized and there are lovely touches like a hidden jewel crate which a mini tree branch can fit over and a pivoting ladder.
Very highly recommended. The boys like it too. Perhaps Lego is still unisex...

At last lego has designed lego for girls. This means my daughter can build this but also use her imagination and play with the figures.
Lego has thought about the girls that will play with these toys, because they aren't the normal lego block figures but they are like small dolls. My daughter loves these and has "plans" to have as many as she can scheme and save for. Well done lego!