Doll House for a boy?

[MamatobabyA]

So DS and I went and saw Santa.  He had a great experience and had the chance to play with some of the toys that Santa had in his "workshop" (we were the only kid there).  I asked him if he had fun playing with the dollhouse at Santas.  Now he seems convinced Santa is bringing it b/c he played with it while visiting Santa.  I have no problem with his having a "girl" toy, but I don't want him to want it just because I said something.  I don't want to get it for him only b/c I am suggesting it.  DS is 3 in January and agrees to most any toy suggestion at first.  He really seemed to enjoy paling with it and he is very into imaginative play right now. 

I starting looking to see if I could find a dollhouse and they are all very pink and girly.  Any experience mom's have a suggestion of a reasonably priced house that isn't girls only?

[nstewart]

Plan Toys has awesome toys for imaginary play.  I love this dollhouse which would be great for your DS.  I don't think playing with a dollhouse is necessarily "girly".  It's like playing house and kids just like to mimic what they see.  If you do a google images search for
Plan dollhouse there have some more "traditional" style ones as well that are just plain wood (no pink or other colors) and also some more simple, modern style doll houses.

I purchased this doll pram for my DS for Christmas.  He loves the wooden stroller at our Waldorf school (well, any stroller really.  But it's hard to find one that isn't pink, kind of like the doll house!) and I liked this because it can be used as a cart, a stroller, etc.  If he wants to push dolls or stuffed animals around, that's fine with me!

[sageowl]

My son actually likes dollhouses too (or as I like to call them, "Play houses").  The local library has a plain wooden dollhouse in the children's section, that he loves playing with it when we go there.  I've seen a few plain wooden ones around, so I know they must exist although I'm guessing the price is comparable to an actual house (j/k).  I think it's a fairly normal interest, even for boys.    
 

[grethel]

We have a Plan Toys dollhouse that is very gender-neutral - plain wood with an orange roof. The furniture and family of people we have to go with it aren't girly either. They're not exactly cheap, but I found Amazon had a lot better prices than some other stores.

Since we bought it, I have seen other wooden houses that had a similar style, and they all seemed very well suited for either a girl or boy.

Thinking further about this, I had another idea. How about a farm set? There are some really nice wooden "barns" that are more like houses. You could use both people and animals with them. My dd and her best little friend, who is a boy, both absolutely love playing with the farm stuff.

Edited by grethel - 12/5/12 at 9:13am

[marsupial-mom]

The above ideas are great.

Also, I saw two options at Costco of all places recently. One is a police station/ firehouse. It is a police station on one side and a firehouse on the other. The police station has an elevator and the firehouse has a pole. It comes with a few little men and a fire dog, too. It also comes with a motorcycle and helicopter. It's really cute and I have to think that if it is at Costco then it's pretty mainstream. So... that's one dollhouse type of option for a boy that is totally socially acceptable which means that if your boy doesn't like it then you can proibably sell it. Here it is: http://www.kidkraft.com/toys-and-playsets/playsets/63259

Another option I saw at Costco was a pirate house. Anything that's pirate or castle or hero... they call them playsets instead of dollhouses but really, they are dollhouses.

Then there are these: http://www.miniio.com/ They're small doll-type houses that are ultra fab. Or just google a home style plus dollhouse (example "log cabin dollhouse") and you'll find plenty of options. THey are styled after architecture, not gender.

[JuneBugLoves]

Hi everyone!  (long time lurker here!)

I just had to recommend this little house http://www.dollshouse.com/dhe/product-dolls-house.aspx?house=rockyridge 

My nephew who is 3 LOVES playing cowboys and indians with his house and my DS (9 months!) will be getting one once he's a little older. The house appears really sturdy and it's small enough for my sister to hide it when she wants to tidy up, not that that happens much ;-p

good luck finding a house, I think anything which isn't electronic is a great idea for our little ones

best,

JuneBug 

[serenbat]

OP you have gotten some great suggestions

I do always wonder why dollhouses are so often viewed as girls toys- sadly most architects and general house contractors are male and I know some that LOVED to play with dollhouses!!

I would also try to incorporate some blocks with the dollhouse- often we don't get what we really want and need and the blocks are great for building patios, walls and extra rooms.

[nstewart]

Originally Posted by serenbat 

OP you have gotten some great suggestions

I do always wonder why dollhouses are so often viewed as girls toys- sadly most architects and general house contractors are male and I know some that LOVED to play with dollhouses!!

I would also try to incorporate some blocks with the dollhouse- often we don't get what we really want and need and the blocks are great for building patios, walls and extra rooms.

Funny, I even thought this about when kids play house or want to push a stroller.  My DH always pushes our stroller if we are out together (it's his job, according to him!) so why wouldn't DS want to do the same?  And we both cook and clean, so why wouldn't DS want to play house too?  Seems the world of children's play is still very much stuck in a 1950s paradigmn.

[serenbat]

Quote:

Funny, I even thought this about when kids play house or want to push a stroller.  My DH always pushes our stroller if we are out together (it's his job, according to him!) so why wouldn't DS want to do the same?  And we both cook and clean, so why wouldn't DS want to play house too?  Seems the world of children's play is still very much stuck in a 1950s paradigmn.

like mother nature I abhor a vacuum, so my DS would not know that women vacuum since I don't touch ours!

a lot has been made of this year's Swedish (Toys R Us) catalog that shows boy playing with "girl" toys and vice vesra - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324205404578147373422297406.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[rachelsmama]

Originally Posted by serenbat 

like mother nature I abhor a vacuum, so my DS would not know that women vacuum since I don't touch ours!

Another vote for Plan Dollhouses here.  DS and DD fight over ours.

[alaskanmomma]

I'd take him to Toys R Us and just walk around all the aisles and see if he still gravitates towards the dollhouses or not... if he really wanted one, he'd probably try to play with one in the store as well as Santa's workshop.

Unfortunately, I have no advice on where to get an affordable non-pink, frilly dollhouse, but I do know they make wooden ones, but they are so pricy :(

[alaskanmomma]

Oh and jumping in, my son absolutely LOVES his sisters dollhouse. It's pink, girly, super Barbie-ish.. and he usually has his dinosaurs wreck havoc and eat Barbie , but he really loves playing with it! Like I mentioned above, had the wooden houses not been completely out of our budget, we would've gotten one, but the girl house doesn't seem to phase him at all. He's 2, 3 in April so pretty close in age.

[SunRise]

My son loved his doll house - he was around 5 when we got it.  I bought a bookshelf dollhouse (at micheals) and a little Dremel so we could cut out a few doors. We painted it and bought shingles for the roof, tile for the kitchen floor and felt for rugs (at acmoore or micheals).  And he got some dolls and furniture for presents. He enjoyed decorating. Anyways thats an idea, if cost is a factor. I love that plan toys dollhouse and had always sort of wanted to get it. but i really enjoyed the time spent with my kid creating our own.

[SunRise]

Originally Posted by marsupial-mom 

The above ideas are great.

Also, I saw two options at Costco of all places recently. One is a police station/ firehouse. It is a police station on one side and a firehouse on the other. The police station has an elevator and the firehouse has a pole. It comes with a few little men and a fire dog, too. It also comes with a motorcycle and helicopter. It's really cute and I have to think that if it is at Costco then it's pretty mainstream. So... that's one dollhouse type of option for a boy that is totally socially acceptable which means that if your boy doesn't like it then you can proibably sell it. Here it is: http://www.kidkraft.com/toys-and-playsets/playsets/63259

Another option I saw at Costco was a pirate house. Anything that's pirate or castle or hero... they call them playsets instead of dollhouses but really, they are dollhouses.

Then there are these: http://www.miniio.com/ They're small doll-type houses that are ultra fab. Or just google a home style plus dollhouse (example "log cabin dollhouse") and you'll find plenty of options. THey are styled after architecture, not gender.

That minijo one is really cool, and that blahblahblah cat. LOL. There are a lot of architecture ones too, the Modern Doll house, stackable houses. ahhhh.