Folding Dollhouse

Fisher-Price Little People Happy Sounds Home

Plastic Folding Dollhouse

These houses are portable, easy to carry and store, and are great for both boys and girls! It can be very difficult these days to find these types of toys without batteries. Toys without batteries are great because they encourage creativity. They are powered by the child. The dollhouse pictured here does require batteries, but I would encourage you to leave the batteries out and let your child use his imagination!

Age Level: 1-5 As long as there are no small parts in your folding dollhouse (this one is considered safe by the manufacturer), this is a toy that your children can use in different ways as they grow and develop new play skills. Right now, my one-year-old twins like to put the baby in and out of the bed and play peek-a-boo through the tiny windows. As they get older, I know that their play themes while using this toy will become more complex, involve more steps, and be more language oriented. 

Skills/Talents: 
~Pretend Play: The possibilities with this toy are endless! Depending on your child's age and skill level, it can be as simple as giving the figures a bath and putting them to bed, or something more complex involving several of the characters and their activities together. Pretend play is an important component in the development of language, social skills, problem solving and cognitive skills. 

~Language: This toy is particularly language-rich so I have a lot to say in this area!

Some key words that I use both with clients and my daughters while playing with this toy are:

• "night night", "shhh", and "wake up!" while putting the figures to bed
• "stinky!", "wash-wash", and "all clean!" while bathing the figures
• "eat" and "yummy" while feeding the dolls
• "I see you!" while looking at eachother through the windows

Some simple one-step directions that I practice with this toys are:

• put the baby in the bed
• put the daddy on the potty
• put the mommy in the chair
• open the refrigerator

Examples of two-step directions are:

• give the baby a kiss and put her in the bed
• let the daddy go potty and then wash his hands
• put the mommy in the chair and [pretend to] give her some food
• open the refrigerator and [pretend to] take out some milk

If your child has some words already, and you would like them to learn to respond to "wh" questions, some examples of these include:

• What is mommy/baby/daddy doing (as you are making the figure, eat, go potty, etc.)?
• Who is in the bath/eating dinner/sleeping/looking out the window?

Whether practicing direction following or responding to questions, always present the question/direction and then model the answer/carry out the command yourself if your child is unsuccessful and always do so with an encouraging attitude!

Rating: Five out of five stars!

Where can I purchase this toy?