Sofia the First – Royal Prep Academy Backpack

A new addition to Sofia the First’s micro world is this fantastic take and play Royal Prep Academy backpack playset.

The backpack playset comes with four micro figures – Sofia (in riding clothes) Minimus, Fairy Fauna and Prince Zandar.

The set folds out easily and Elizabeth managed to put it together by herself with just a small amount of guidance the first time.

As you can see it folds away tightly into the plastic casing and folds out to be a large set. I do recommend getting a grown up to pack it away as if it is not folded correctly it can damage some parts. The set can also be fiddly for smaller children to construct.

When you first set up you need to place all of the stickers. This is one of my pet hates and it was made worse by there not being many instructions on where to place the stickers so you have to use the images on the box and your imagination to work out where they need to go.

Inside the academy are lots of rooms with moving parts to really add to the enjoyment of the playset. You can also lift a flap on Minimus so that Sofia can ride on his back too. With revolving doors, desk tops that open and even a horse jump there is lots of bits for the figure to interact with.

The playset can also take two AAA batteries that give the set some working lights in various rooms. This is a nice added touch but I think they could do more with that and maybe add in some sound effects too.

The Royal Prep Academy set is a brilliant idea but for £35 I would like to see a little bit more like the sound effects mentioned, the stickers already stuck on and maybe a few more bits of furniture.

However on a plus side the girls love it and it folds down very neatly which means that I don’t have to complain about all the mess in their rooms and the bits don’t get lost.