An Entire World Tucked Away

• What: Playmobil My Secret Horse Stable Play Box
• When: 4 years and up
• Why: Packs away, keeps small pieces safe from younger siblings
• Where: Amazon

We received Playmobil’s My Secret Horse Stable Play Box years ago as a gift. I wasn’t entirely convinced at the time about toys with tiny pieces, as we still had an infant crawling around and I didn’t want to contend with more choking hazards. I found it hard enough to keep up with three kids under five.

Playmobil Fairy Garden Play Box on Amazon

But boy am I glad we kept it. My daughter fell in love with the horse stable set before we even got the box open. It has everything you need to take care of horses, from the horse with a movable head to a person to wield the brushes, combs, and tackle. It also comes with food, buckets, tools, a jumping gate, and even two tiny mice to complete the scene.

The horse stable set comes with all these accessories and more.

The box itself folds out to stand upright. Both sides have a piece that lifts up to provide more scenery, and a flap on the back that can lift into place. In the main compartment, a railing with an occupied bird’s nest folds up and out, and a fence with an opening gate folds down to create a three dimensional play scene.

All the pieces fit into the main compartment for easy secure storage.

But my favorite part? All those things fold right back up and all the pieces fit inside the box. It even comes with a key to lock it, making it nearly impossible for little siblings to get into it. To this day, I have my kids pack it away as soon as they finish playing. I don’t know how many of the original pieces we have, but it contains a lot more of them than I’d expect after three kids and multiple years of play.

This one box holds all that stuff, and locks using the key that tucks away underneath.

These secret box sets come in a variety of themes, like hospital, dance studio, preschool, police station, and even Mars mission. I suspect based on price that Playmobil no longer produces some of the sets, like the horse stable. The ones in production retail around $25-30, but if you can’t live without a certain secret box for your favorite kid, you can pay more than $100 on Amazon for the older models.