Lately, well, for the past year and a half, Little Bear has been really into playing with little people and animals. I have it on good authority that I was very similar at this age so maybe that’s why I find her play now to be so cute. Because of this, she has collected herself quite an array of doll and animal houses. Mine from when I was little, a Calico Critters manor, a cardboard beach house… the list goes on. In preparing for our summer downsizing, we’ve been trying to figure out how we can get this neighborhood down to just a few living spaces. What does she like about each house? How does she play with each of them? What aspects do we, as parents, like? And of course, the very important question: How does the size of each house fit with the scale of all of the little animals and people that we have amassed?
While at Learning Palace the other day (a dangerous place to take your two year old and, as it turns out, your husband) we saw a really cool Melissa and Doug castle. It came in a “Princess” option and a “Medieval” option. Papa and Little Bear both liked the former but I get more votes than they do, so the Medieval castle it was.
And holy cow, did we pick right. I am the first to admit when we buy a toy that flops (Stride-To-Ride Dino, anyone?) but this has been a total hit. Not only did it stop the tears at Grandma and Grandpa’s this afternoon, but she bypassed Papa to play with it once she got home. And papa has pretty much been at the top of her list lately. Anyway, true to form, the castle was shared by many friends: My Little Pony, Tangled dolls, Calico Critters, Playmobil princesses, a large stuffed dog, a plastic bear, and what I’m pretty sure is a Little People air traffic controller (though you could convince me otherwise). The bear attacked the princess (who was in the bathtub), the elephant mama carried the mouse baby up and down the stairs several times, Flynn Rider spent his time falling into the dungeon, and there was constant inter-species bedsharing.
So what is to become of the rest of the dwellings? I think we might put the Calico Critter house on the market. It’s spacious and the correct scale, but it doesn’t have a trapdoor. And everyone knows you need a trapdoor.
