Dollhouse Suggestions

We love the FP one. We got the big pink one for Christmas for her. She uses it about every other day.

I would do the plastic ones. The plastic house will last longer. they will stand the test of time whereas a wooden one could warp and such if exposed to places where there is a lot of humidity. I would also go on ebay and buy one because they are cheaper and you could get an almost new one for the same price of a brand new one. I bought a lot of my sons thomas the trains stuff on there and have never been disappointed.

My daughter is not now, nor has ever been "into" playing with dolls. But she did play with the "Happy Family" (or maybe it was Loving Family?) when she was 3-5 yrs old. The plastic house or carnival, or whatever set you had usually folded open/shut and had a carrying handle. We had several pieces of it, and they were lined up on top of her dresser at head height (for her). She also would take them down and lay on the floor and play with them. But mostly she used them (in conjunction with her older brother) as "sets" for super hero action fantasies. You know... super posable Spiderman swings in on a piece of yarn into the 2nd floor window or on the rooftop and "saves the day" type stuff. LOL
She kept it for a long time and didn't want me to put it up--even though she had long since quit actually playing with it. It is all in the attic now. I enjoyed having that instead of wood, because it was easier for her to move it around where she wanted to play. Or I could bring it to another room easily for guests. Or take it on trips to Nana's house.

The big bookshelf "dollhouse" things are nice. But it is more of an investment. And I don't want one in my attic when my daughter turns 14. ;)

I loved my dollhouse as a child...it was your simple six rooms, three stacked on three, and open on one side entirely for easy access. It was wood, and all of the furniture was small replica to look exactly like real furniture. Upholstered chairs, little wooden baby grand piano, etc...and I absolutely loved it. LOVED IT. I still have the furniture from it, gently packed away (except when my oldest wants to play with them...she isn't quite as gentle as I was.)

My oldest has the Melissa and Doug dollhouse, and I hate it. It isn't easy access, it's not pretty, it was way too expensive (although a gift...I never would have picked it, personally) for how simple it is, and she never plays with it. She's had it since three, and is now six.

If she plays with the one at church, I would try not to duplicate it (because part of the fun is that it's a special "at church" toy) but do something a little different. Someone mentioned the Calico Critters houses, and I'm telling you...if you can afford it, I'd do that. They are BEAUTIFUL, and I wish I could afford one for my little girl...I really think she'd play with it all the time, but they are on the spendy side. They have so many different house styles, animal families, and furniture sets, if I were a rich woman, I could go nuts with that stuff!!

Good luck, and I hope you find the perfect thing!! :)

mine doesnt play with it much anymore, she did when it was in her room, but i put it in the basement and now she doesnt. but if everyone leaves her alone for a second, she will go down and play with it, but they never leave her alone, lol.... but anyway, i got the melissa and doug wooden one. its sturdy for the price, and i love the wood. the doors on the entrance broke in a minute, i knew they would, my kids are too rough and i dont like how that part is made. but you dont really need it. she has the m&d castle one, folds up, its nice too. stays closed and holds the stuff.

Hi,
I had always looked at the Kidcraft houses - they are the best size for Barbie style dolls but I never ended up buying any dollhouse - my daughter kind of grew out of it. Plus, she's decorated tons of the cardboard kits that we love and played dollhouse with those. Very inexpensive yet sturdy choice and she got a lot out of it because she could decorate the palace, the treehouse and other items as she liked. It's definitely different than a real dollhouse, and as I said, I like the Kidcraft houses. If you're interested in checking out our store, please visit http://www.CreativeToyshop.com - thanks!
M.

I loved the idea of a wooden doll house but ended up going w/ this one-

Savannah Dollhouse
by KidKraft

and my kids LOVE IT. I'm talking HOURS of playtime. I decided to go with this one b/c it could fit Barbies so I thought they would play with it longer b/c of that. It comes w/ all the furniture too..... so there are no hidden costs like some of the other sets. We paid just over $100 w/ free shipping so check around re: pricing. LOVE this set!!

ToysRus has the loving family with many sets included for $159.

We bought our girls a Savannah Dollhouse by KidKraft. It's a wood type material and VERY nice. Very open so multiple kids can play at once. It's all too....like up to my shoulders, so seemd HUGE for a 3 year old.

You can find it online at Walmart or Amazon. I see it's listed for $129...I only paid about $70 at X-Mas time.

A cute one is "Calico Critters."
But it is expensive.
But nice/cute.
Just Google search it.

Fisher Price is good.

Wood ones, will be more expensive.
My daughter had/has a wood one. She didn't play with it that long. It was expensive. It was a gift though. It just sits and collects dust.

And the next question is: DOES your daughter, LIKE playing with dollhouses??? Some kids like playing with them at a store, but once they have one at home, they don't play with it much.

Or, get her an outdoor, playhouse for the yard.

Playmobil has an AMAZING one! I had a similar one growing up, and if I ever am blessed to have a little girl, she will have one too. Their toys are SO high quality (it seriously still looks brand new and it was played with for about 12 years straight through all of us kids), and the pieces are large enough for her to play with now, but also have small enough add-ons that she can work on fine motor skills. I know they used to cost quite a bit, but I would definitely say it is worth the investment!

P.S. Just looked up the cost...$139...not as bad as I thought...

My daughter (now-4) wanted a dollhouse for sometime, but we were concerned with whether or not she'd actually play with it. We decided that rather than invest a lot in a dollhouse that might get no use, we'd start off small. If the small one saw a lot of use, then we could consider purchasing a bigger dollhouse (and space is always an issue!). We got the folding dollhouse by Melissa and Doug - purchased from Amazon (at Christmastime), it was only around $30 or $35. So far, it's been a worthwhile investment. She plays with it occasionally, but not enough for us to feel guilty about having bought the small dollhouse rather than a big one. It stores easily, and it comes with two small wooden dolls and small wooden furniture to furnish the house.

We have Loving Family. My daughter is 6 and we even upgraded to the newer version for Christmas this year. Shes had it about 2-3 years and its still her favorite toy. My son and nephews even love it.

Both Plan Toys and Melissa and Doug have nice wooden dollhouses, but I couldn't get prices on the sites I checked out.

I actually have a very unusual one that I was given, and which we use at home and at preschool time. It's wooden with slots and pegs together, so that A. it can be arranged any way the kids want and B. it stores flat.

Melissa and Doug also had a folding one which might suit the bill. It runs about $50. It might actually be simple enough to be fun to play with, unless you are considering investing in one that can grow with her to be more detailed. Then, other dollhouses would work better.

I think it depends on whether you see it as a short or long term activity for her. I had a wooden dollhouse (handmade by an older man in our area) as a child and loved it. I "played" with it when I was younger and then decorated it as I got older. It was much fun to make or pick out wallpapers, flooring, furniture, etc. and I even wrote my first "research" paper about dollhouses :o In my opinion, the plastic ones are fun for playing dolls but more limited in how you can personalize them.

My DD got the FP Loving Family Dollhouse for Christmas (she turned 3 a month and a half later). She loves it and plays with it pretty much everyday.

Also, she breaks just about everything, but hasn't managed to break any part of the doll house. We have (or, I should say...had) lots of books and toys that survived my 3 boys, but somehow, my little girl ruined!

I also like that it is not too heavy, so it is easy to move, and that it folds up pretty compactly. Also we were able to buy her more furniture for her birthday. I like that because, even though she's getting more toys, it all stays neatly in one location.

We built my daughter a very simple house when she turned 4. It's basic structure is like a book shelf with each shelf space far enough apart for a barbie to stand up. It has 3 floors, bottom floor I used a piece of tile board because that it like the kitchen area. Second floor I painted beige and painted an area rug in the middle becasue that is the living room floor - I also painted a fire place on one wall in that room. The third floor I glued down a piece of carpet for the bedroom floor. I painted the walls and painted windows. We installed a small door on the bottom floor with small hinges and clasp. I painted windows on the out side too to reflect what I had painted inside. My daughter loves it!

I got a more generic doll house that could be used in a variety of ways, it grew up with her, now it is used as a bookshelf and a stuffed animal home = )