Fisher-Price Time to Play Dollhouse

There is something about a dollhouse that attracts young girls. My two youngest kids have spent hours with this cute new Fisher-Price program. Don't expect this to raise your kid's ACT scores, but they will have fun if they are dollhouse fans. This is a rather quiet, peaceful program without the frenetic pace of many action games your kids may spend their time with. Preschoolers and early elementary kids (girls especially) will enjoy this one. I must admit, however, that my ten-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son are the ones having the most fun here!

The dollhouse is patterned after the real life Fisher-Price dollhouse. There are six rooms with all the usual dollhouse furnishings. At the beginning, your child will select a family to live in the house. There are four multi-cultural dolls to select from. It is baby's birthday today, and your child must help prepare for the festivities. By visiting each room, he or she will earn party favors, decorations and more to prepare for the eventual birthday bash.

• In the kitchen, the cake must be decorated. Other than decorating the cake, there is not much to do here. The kitchen tools are cute, but do not work as intuitively as they do in My Disney Kitchen.
• The living room needs dusting. I wish my own kids were as willing to dust in our house as they are to dust here! There is a cute dusting song that I have heard my kids singing away from the computer. Even I must admit to enjoying the spray cleaner and

magical dusting cloth here. Oh, that housework were this easy!

• In the bathroom there are songs to listen to, and a bubble game to play. Three skill levels are included in this patterning game. Your child must pop bubbles, which contain birthday prizes in a specific order.
• My kids enjoyed the bedroom more than any other room. Here you can select new furniture, curtains, carpeting and more. They really enjoyed creating new bedroom themes. There are themes here which are appropriate for boys as well as girls. *Dressing up in sisters bedroom is another fun activity. There are a multitude of items here which can be placed on your doll. Your kids will find regular clothes, silly costumes, accessories and more.
• Outside your kids will find four activities, which correspond to the seasons. In winter there is a snow person to be built, a tea party for spring, bug collecting in summer, and jack-o-lantern decorating for fall.

As bugs are collected in summer, your kids can hear what they are called, and read about the various bugs found in the yard.

There is nothing spectacular here which would justify the amount of attention this program has received in our house. There is just something peaceful and pleasant about playing in this dollhouse. This is not one to purchase for academic reasons, but may be a nice addition to your collection for those dreary last days of winter when it is difficult to get outside.

Grading for Fisher-Price Time to Play Dollhouse

Educational Value: 2 1/2 Entertainment Value: 4 Replay Value: 4

Ages: 4-7

Available from Knowledge Adventure at www.knowledgeadventure.com

Return to Reviews Archive

Return to LearningWare Reviews Home Page for Members