Way back in the 1990’s our mother gifted each of her granddaughters a Fisher Price dollhouse. This is the little girl part of her that never grew up. She’s 80 years old and we still gift her miniatures for her own dollhouse and garden train set. Some part of her always dreamed of having a real dollhouse of her own. Her dream dollhouse would have lights with working switches and tiny chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It would have a miniature grand piano and a grandfather clock, and teeny tiny dishes small enough for a mouse.
That longing from her own childhood expressed itself in her eyes one day when she and I were at the mall together shopping for school clothes. I was probably only eight, but I remember the sparkle in her eyes as she spent a couple of carefully-budgeted dollars to purchase two raffle tickets for a dollhouse that was on display. Ever since, she seems to have had a quiet longing for a perfect dollhouse she could call her own. But instead of buying her own, she gifted a more playable version to the next generation.
These sturdy little dollhouses included enough plastic people and tiny tables and chairs to capture the imaginations of a whole new generation of granddaughters. And they were played with often enough that when the granddaughters grew up, we tucked them away in our various storage spaces and waited for the next generation. You’ll notice Grandma RaRa in both the photo above and the one below:
New Generation Dollhouse Play
And since this is a new generation, these dollhouses are still getting a workout in all kinds of non-gender-specific ways. Great for open-ended and imaginative play, dollhouses are a staple in any playroom. RaRa’s grandsons use it now as a “fight guy house.” On any given day, you may find it in use as a garage.
Or you might find ninja turtles napping in front of the TV and eating pizza.
Or dinosaurs performing dangerous rescue missions…or pushing ninjas out of the windows, depending on which version you feel better about.
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Watching the grandkids play with this dollhouse is a great reminder to let kids play their way. Although most Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figures or monster trucks don’t often get used in a dollhouse, it’s fun to watch ours get a variety of use as imaginations run wild.
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This dollhouse is no longer in production, but you can find similar newer editions from @fisherprice. Put a dollhouse and a variety of miniature figures in your own Play Library and watch the play evolve.