Which Dollhouse Do Your Kids Love? - Hillsboro,OR

Calico Critters doll house.

It is more pricey.

Don't get it if you don't know your kids will like a doll house.

AND keep in mind, that any pretend play toy, will get worn looking and/or broken or marked up. Kids.
If you're okay with that and don't expect it to look brand new forever, then that's good.

Or get a bunch of costumes.... for pretend play. Kids love that.

Or a play grocery cart and play plastic food and a play cash register. Kids LOVE that too, and its great for pretend play. For all. Even with you. And they can do pretend shopping and play 'store.' This teaches them all kinds of things. Pretend.

And, even if the doll house is 'big'... kids will occasionally fight. Because... they are all at different age stages and development cognitively. So, conflict will happen. But so you use it like anything else, to referee or teach them about how to play, fairly. With the child's age development, in mind.
AND most importantly, explain to the kids that it is for EVERYONE. So that, one kid doesn't claim "ownership" over it, over the others and/or get territorial over it. And EACH child, WILL want to play with it in their own way. That is a part... of what pretend play is. So keep that in mind, too.

And, you said you want the Dollhouse for your 2.5 year old. BUT that you want something for ALL the kids to play with.
SO... to me... that means... that this dollhouse, is NOT "for" your 2.5 year old. And if you tell your 2.5 year old that it is 'hers' and for 'her'... then SHE will think it is HERS. AND she may not want... to share it. She is 2. And this will create a conflict... if you then tell her that it is for everyone.

Get something else, then, for ALL the kids. A 'together' gift. With that understanding, explaining that to ALL the kids.

AND, the 2.5 year old girl and your 4 year old son... may NOT want to both play with the dollhouse. They are different ages and genders.

we have the Loving Family one and my daughters love it. My 3 year old plays with it pretty much daily. We have it on the floor, so it doesn't need to be on a table. My 2 daughters can play with it together, so it is big enough for 2 kids.

To be honest, I think pretty much any dollhouse would be fine. My girls make everything into a house for their dolls and toys, so I don't think the actual building matters that much. What my girls did fight over was the babies. They both LOVE the babies and baby accessories, so make sure you have enough of them. lol!

We have the dora dollhouse and a TON of accessories for it. I bought it ( I mean Santa brough it) 2 years ago and it still gets played with every day, even by boys since we have swiper and diego characters too.

We also have the dora dollhouse, with a few extra accessories, or rooms. My almost three year old plays with it constantly, but it is pretty small a few times that she has had friends play with her they usually set up the rooms outside of the house. We don't have many different characters, but somehting that drives my daughter mad is that Boots and Isa (sp?) don't bend to sit down. She hates that!

We also have the Melissa and Doug fold and go dollhouse. (http://www.abccreativelearning.com/item_135/Melissa-Doug-... love that one, but again frustration that the dolls don't quite fit in the bed, either the head or the feet have to go over the head/foot board. I have no idea why that wasn't tested before production. However both houses get played with daily and both were gifts last christmas.

I think that wooden toys tend to stand the test of time (and multiple children) better than plastic. Though we do have quite a few fisher price toys tha hold up nicely. I don't know much about kidkraft.

I really don't think that they need all the colors, and fuss kids will be creative with it. I love to just sit and listen to my little one play with her melissa and doug one.

http://www.abccreativelearning.com/item_127/Melissa-Doug-...

I love this one!!
http://www.abccreativelearning.com/item_138/Melissa-Doug-...

All of them. This grandma has a whole neighborhood of dollhouses at her house. Multiple brands, new and used, furnished and not. From webelos to pretty ponies, and those with a family to scale. They are all loved, played with and they love that there is a "neighborhood"!

When I was a kid I use to make my own dollhouses out of cardboard boxes, scraps of fabric, masking tape and elmers glue. More fun than most of the toys I had! Think activities for long snowy days!

My recommendation - get something they can enjoy for a few years and not outgrow too quickly. Even little girls enjoy the big girls dollhouses. I just keep most of the small accessories out of sight.

My personal favorite is my Playskool dollhouse. I have lovingly restored it and it's many parts through eBay and other sites. Unfortunetly it is not made anymore, but sometimes, someone will be sellng some very nice completed ones on eBay.