Affordable dollhouse for 5 year old

[britfish]

I am searching for a dollhouse for DD who will be 5.5 at Christmas time. She has an older toddler one and has recently begun really playing with it. I think she would really enjoy one w/ some smaller parts as hers has the very large chunky people and pieces. Any suggestions for a nice affordable one? At this age did you stay w/ a plastic one?

[wendygrace]

There are a lot of options out there. I would start by looking through the craigslist ads. Do you want wood or plastic?

[Redheaded Sunshine]

I really like the Loving Family Dollhouse from Fisher Price. My DD has My First Dollhouse from Fisher Price and I think Loving Family is a natural step up...I'm considering it for Christmas myself. I think it's about $75 to start but sometimes at Christmas time you can find bundle deals with extra furniture and things. What's really fun about that one is that is has SOO many different rooms of furniture to buy...LOL even a home office and laundry room!

[poohfriend77]

Are you looking for a Barbie-size house, or one for the tiny furniture and dolls?

My sister-in-law bought one for my DDs last Christmas. She got it at Costco for under $100. They might not have the exact one again, but I'd bet they'll have something similar again before Christmas this year. It's for Barbie-size dolls (the whole thing is 3.5 ft. tall), and it came with several rooms' worth of wooden furniture. My girls have played with it every day since then! It's not super fancy, but it is very sturdy and still looks brand new.

If you want the miniature kind, check out craft stores. They often sell kits, but you'd have to put it all together yourself. You'd better get started now!

[britfish]

Originally Posted by Redheaded Sunshine

I really like the Loving Family Dollhouse from Fisher Price. My DD has My First Dollhouse from Fisher Price and I think Loving Family is a natural step up...I'm considering it for Christmas myself. I think it's about $75 to start but sometimes at Christmas time you can find bundle deals with extra furniture and things. What's really fun about that one is that is has SOO many different rooms of furniture to buy...LOL even a home office and laundry room!

thats the one my DD has also. I just looked at the loving family one and it does look like a good next step, thanks for the info. I just hate all the plastic, however I think a wooden one may be too delicate for her age becuase I want her to be able to have fun w/ it not just display it. I see Fisher Price has a bundle deal with the house, kitchen, bathroom and living room for $100 w/ free shipping. Any reviews of the Loving Family one?

[An_Island_Girl]

Our DD5 loves her Playmobil dollhouse (grand mansion)! I love how detailed all of the playmobil items are, and they they are very durable. We purchased ours from a local store, but for the more budget friendly, I'd definately try ebay or craigslist. We choose this one over the loving family, as we liked that it has appeal for a little bit older of a child also, and our daughter deemed the loving family one too "baby-ish".

[Redheaded Sunshine]

Originally Posted by britfish

thats the one my DD has also. I just looked at the loving family one and it does look like a good next step, thanks for the info. I just hate all the plastic, however I think a wooden one may be too delicate for her age becuase I want her to be able to have fun w/ it not just display it. I see Fisher Price has a bundle deal with the house, kitchen, bathroom and living room for $100 w/ free shipping. Any reviews of the Loving Family one?

I'd really like to be able to move up as well, but I guess it depends on your child. I KNOW my daughter is not gentle enough or clean enough to handle a wooden dollhouse. With the Loving Family, it can stand up to her play for a long time and I can clean them easily with a wet rag or whatever I need.

[Mom2Ben02]

We got a Ryan's Room Dollhouse at Tuesday Morning last year really cheap. I was there a few months back and they still had them.

http://www.kidstoychest.com/sw/SW5516360.htm

[mickeyboat]

Originally Posted by Mom2Ben02

We got a Ryan's Room Dollhouse at Tuesday Morning last year really cheap. I was there a few months back and they still had them.

http://www.kidstoychest.com/sw/SW5516360.htm

My DDs love their Ryan's Room Dollhouse (and we didn't get it really cheap ). The structure and furniture are very substantial - not delicate at all. We plan to keep it for grandchildren to use.

http://www.mytoybox.com/mm5/merchant...Code=SW5516380

This is the one we have. We also have the fire station.

[Reagan&Co.]

If she is ready for smaller pieces, the Playmobile houses (and all their stuff) is the best quality toy I have seen, hands down. Well worth the money, but you can usually find coupons or get lucky at a Tuesday Morning.

We have the Fisher Price three story townhouse. Bought it about six years ago for child #1. Now on child #2 (a boy) and the quality is excellent. It came with all furniture, although you can buy separate room kits. We found there was not room for much more furniture, though, and returned most of it.
There is enough detail in this house that it works beyond preschool.

I will add, though, that my DS6 dismantles all Playmobile structures and the little pieces usually scatter pretty fast at our house. That's just the way he plays. Think about the imagination your child has, how she will use the house, etc. I wooden one might be great, if she is a careful "housekeeper".

[auralia]

i really like the loving family doll house. I got it at toys r us w/ 6 rooms of furniture for about 100 ish but i had a 40% off coupon.. was just luck that the coupon came before her birthday, but it was so cute i bought almost all the other sets so it got a little expensive, i like that even though there are small parts it is hard to lose them because they are usually attached in one way or another (like a small string attaches the coffee pot to the kitchen, long enough to play w/ coffee pot, and prevents loss

[2DisPrincesses]

My DD(4) also has The Loving Family Dollhouse. She loves it. I got a package deal around Christmas time that included the house and several rooms of furniture for about $80 (I also had a 20% off coupon for Toys 'r Us). The rooms of furniture seem to range from $12 to $20- some play music, make noises, and light up. There is a huge selection of accessories and room groups. As previously mentioned, all of the small pieces such as spoons for the babies, coffee pot, etc are attached by strings so there are not any small pieces. The house itself fold up nicely so it doesn't take up much space and it really doesn't look too bad considering it's plastic.

[kittycatalina65]

This is a cute one by Melissa and Doug, and the price seems right
http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-F.../dp/B001P9OGRS

If you're crafty I'd like to suggest "The Most Wonderful Dollhouse Book" by Millie Hines. It's out of print, but available at the library or quite cheaply used. It has patterns to make a dollhouse out of boxes, along with the dolls and furnishings. It also has projects for kids to do themselves.

[Rosiekins]

I am a Nanny for 7.5, 4.5, and 2.5 girls. The oldest got a wood doll house as a special Christmas present when she was 4. It was kept in the room and stayed in great shape. When Miss Spoiled (the 2.5 yr old then 1) decided she wanted to play with it Mommy had it put in the dinning room so she could, much to the dismay of the oldest who's toy it was and the middle who had never been allowed to touch it but that is another story. Surprisingly it still stayed in great shape, The handle on the sink broke but other then that it is fine. I would suggest getting a wooden one that allows for add ons. This way you daughter will not out grow it anytime soon as she would with a plastic one and when she gets older she can have the fun of adding another wing. With a real one there will be more aspects for her, she can learn to sew for it, make Fimo food, pick wall paper, knit rugs. It will be come something cherished that she will want to pass on to her kids. And if you are worried over the dolls and furniture get her plastic dolls and blocky wooden furniture for now and replace them on another Christmas with more delicate ones.

[Binnie]

DD who will turn 4 right before Christmas will be getting a new castle dollhouse for Christmas this year.

She got the Loving Family one last year, and has played with it some, but she's thrown herself headlong into the princesses this year, so we're upgrading her to a castle dollhouse we ordered from Walmart.com for like $89. In researching it, we found the Kidkraft ones looked really nice, they're wood/MDF, and can fit the Barbie-sized dolls (since DD will be getting the Barbie-sized princesses this year).

Costco's got a couple of nice ones, too.