Toy Review: Fisher-Price's My First Dollhouse

When my daughter visits her grandma once or twice a year, she spends hours playing with her aunt's doll house from the 90s. Because of her fascination with the doll house, her daddy and I gave her a toddler doll house for her second birthday; the one we chose is called the Fisher-Price My First Dollhouse.

The reason we chose the My First Dollhouse is because it is a doll house designed especially for toddlers. Although it is a three-story house, the width of the My First Dollhouse is just right for a two- or three-year-old to play with. My daughter sits on the floor and is able to easily reach up to the doll house's third story to put the baby in her room.

The doll house comes with a mommy, daddy, and a baby girl - just like our family right now. Besides the three people and the doll house itself, the My First Dollhouse also comes with a removable kitchen table + two chairs, bathroom toilet, kitchen sink, refrigerator, and stove; plus a non-movable computer and desk, bathtub, sink, mirror, doorbell, clock, and wall telephone. There are stairs leading up to the second story of the doll house, but to get up to the third story the members of the family just have to be good jumpers! My daughter hasn't commented on the lack of stairs to get to the baby's room yet.

Since there's a lack of furniture, especially beds, in the My First Dollhouse, there are three additional sets available for purchase to go along with this $30 (or so) doll house. This past Christmas, Grandma gave my daughter one of those additional My First Dollhouse sets - the one with the baby crib, rocking chair, bouncy seat (what she often uses as a high chair), and toys. Having these extra items in the doll house has made it a bit crowded, but also more interesting, and I still want to complete the My First Dollhouse eventually for her.

Even without the extra My First Dollhouse sets, children in general have big imaginations to pretend furniture is there; although there's not a bed or TV in the parents' bedroom, my daughter often puts the family inside that room to sit on the floor and watch TV.

There are two noise-making features with this doll house. With 2 AA batteries, the My First Dollhouse telephone and doorbell will ring when pushed. My daughter enjoys bringing her "Little People" over and ringing the doorbell for a visit with the My First Dollhouse family. The phone is a nice touch, as well, except that it doesn't unattach from the wall, which makes answering a ringing doll house phone impossible to do unless imagination is used.

As for the My First Dollhouse family members, all three of them can be bent at the waste to sit down or made straight again to cook dinner or walk up the stairs to their rooms. Their arms can be moved, also. My daughter can bend the doll house family members just fine, but sometimes she has a bit of trouble getting each of them to stay seated on the dining room chairs. The daddy's arms, especially, are difficult for her to move to a reaching out position for him to stay seated. He is, of course, bigger than the mommy or baby, but since he is bigger he doesn't fit naturally in the doll house chair and has to be set just right in order to stay there (until he gets accidentally bumped and falls out again).

Since only two dining room chairs come with the My First Dollhouse, one of the family members couldn't properly sit and eat dinner with the other two until we received the extra set from Grandma. Until we had the "high chair" I encouraged my daughter to bring the upstairs toilet downstairs to the dining table to be used as a third seat, and that worked just fine.

We like the look of the doll house family members very much, but unfortunately some of the paint keeps getting chipped or wearing off more and more. The paint on all three of their noses has been rubbed off; both the My First Dollhouse mommy and baby have a pink spot on their noses, while the daddy has a green spot. Since the pink and green spots match with the color of their shirts, I am guessing that their upper bodies were painted all one color before the details of the face and hair were painted on. (Makes sense to me, at least!) And there are other rubbed-off spots on the doll house family members besides just on their noses.

I have checked the Fisher-Price website, and there does not seem to be a My First Dollhouse vehicle available to go with the set, unfortunately. My daughter uses the "Little People" mini van that she already owned for the three doll house family members to ride around in. Of course the mommy and daddy have to sit sideways to fit into the mini van, but it's good enough to make my daughter content enough with the transportation.

This My First Dollhouse is so perfect for my daughter, and I have no regrets buying it for her since it is the most-played-with toy that she owns. My daughter now plays doll house every day of the week instead of just once or twice a year at Grandma's.