Doll House for a not quite 3 year-old

[momathome]

I would really like to get Julia a doll house for Christmas but I am torn about which way to go. She will be 2.5 months shy of 3 this Christmas. The practical side of me says to get her the Fisher Price Little People one - she loves her LP sets and they are pretty indestructable - important since Julia is a pretty destructable kid. ;) The girlie side of me says to get her something cute like the Calico Critters doll house or the pink Ryan's Room doll house. I am just wondering how would she would be with dainty little wooden furniture. Opinons? TIA!

[momathome]

I would really like to get Julia a doll house for Christmas but I am torn about which way to go. She will be 2.5 months shy of 3 this Christmas. The practical side of me says to get her the Fisher Price Little People one - she loves her LP sets and they are pretty indestructable - important since Julia is a pretty destructable kid. ;) The girlie side of me says to get her something cute like the Calico Critters doll house or the pink Ryan's Room doll house. I am just wondering how would she would be with dainty little wooden furniture. Opinons? TIA!

[new_mommy25]

If it were me I would get the pink Ryan's Room house. It's so adorable! I think she would be okay with it at that age. Plus you could buy Calico Critters to live in the pretty pink house.

But then again my kids never liked LP.

[new_mommy25]

If it were me I would get the pink Ryan's Room house. It's so adorable! I think she would be okay with it at that age. Plus you could buy Calico Critters to live in the pretty pink house.

But then again my kids never liked LP.

[caleymama]

One set of grandparents got the girls this dollhouse for Christmas last year (they were 3.25 and just 2 at the time):
The Melissa & Doug Furnished Dollhouse
http://www.kidsurplus.com/itemDetail.asp?item=62%20MLD%20795&catid=424&fromsearch=true

We supplemented it with a bunch of Ryan's Room sets for inside & outside the house (found some great deals on those at Tuesday Morning). Nothing seems too fragile. I will say that the working lamp set didn't last too long, but everything else has held up well. One thing I love about this dollhouse is the built-in handle on top. It can be moved very easily that way - from it's dedicated table to the train table or the floor, etc. It seems like it could easily be painted, but we opted to leave it plain.

I've seen the (a?) Calico Critters dollhouse at a local mom & pop toy store and it's definitely adorable, but my take on it a year ago was that it was a little too fussy for such young kids. I had a more traditional dollhouse growing up & loved it but I was older and decided that something simpler would be better for DDs.

I love the PP's idea of adding some Calico Critters to a Ryan's Room dollhouse. My girls put all sorts of things in the dollhouse. The other day, there was a different sea creature tucked in to bed w/ a blanket in each room of the house.

Good luck - I'm sure Julia will love whatever you choose!

[caleymama]

One set of grandparents got the girls this dollhouse for Christmas last year (they were 3.25 and just 2 at the time):
The Melissa & Doug Furnished Dollhouse
http://www.kidsurplus.com/itemDetail.asp?item=62%20MLD%20795&catid=424&fromsearch=true

We supplemented it with a bunch of Ryan's Room sets for inside & outside the house (found some great deals on those at Tuesday Morning). Nothing seems too fragile. I will say that the working lamp set didn't last too long, but everything else has held up well. One thing I love about this dollhouse is the built-in handle on top. It can be moved very easily that way - from it's dedicated table to the train table or the floor, etc. It seems like it could easily be painted, but we opted to leave it plain.

I've seen the (a?) Calico Critters dollhouse at a local mom & pop toy store and it's definitely adorable, but my take on it a year ago was that it was a little too fussy for such young kids. I had a more traditional dollhouse growing up & loved it but I was older and decided that something simpler would be better for DDs.

I love the PP's idea of adding some Calico Critters to a Ryan's Room dollhouse. My girls put all sorts of things in the dollhouse. The other day, there was a different sea creature tucked in to bed w/ a blanket in each room of the house.

Good luck - I'm sure Julia will love whatever you choose!

[traciann]

I would get her the lp dollhouse. my 2.5 year old loves all her little people and specially asks me to get her house down every day. (i keep it on the closet shelves when we clean up) its a reasonable price so when she is older you can buy her a nicer dollhouse she will be more develomentally ready for.

you can also go with the fp my first dollhouse. it seems to get really good reviews.

[traciann]

I would get her the lp dollhouse. my 2.5 year old loves all her little people and specially asks me to get her house down every day. (i keep it on the closet shelves when we clean up) its a reasonable price so when she is older you can buy her a nicer dollhouse she will be more develomentally ready for.

you can also go with the fp my first dollhouse. it seems to get really good reviews.

[bunnisa]

I've been looking at the Plan Toys "My First" doll house. You can can usually find it for around $50 with free shipping and it's quite large: 23" x 24.8" x 14.2"

http://www.mytoybox.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/pt39711000_lg.jpg

And I just love the Plan Toys furniture to go with it - both the "NEO" and the "DECOR" lines.

Neo line dining room:
http://www.moolka.com/moolka/images/products/p_13637_0_3.jpg

Decor line dining room:
http://www.moolka.com/moolka/images/products/p_13658_0_3.jpg

[momathome]

Angie, this is exactly what I decided to do. I went to Tuesday Morning today and found the pink Ryan's Room house for the bargain price of $49.99 plus they had additional furniture sets for $6.99 a piece. I ordered the Calico Critters dalmation family for her to use for the house along with a people family. ;) I am very excited, the Ryan's Room house is adorable!