Doll's houses are brilliant toys which engage children's imaginations and help them develop their understanding of the world around them.

Advertisement

Historically, doll's houses were built by wealthy people to replicate their own homes before being adopted as toys for children in the 18th century. Today, there a huge range of children's doll's houses available from traditional wooden models and ready-decorated ones, to Lego kits and even portable houses with handles.

We've found some of the best kids' doll's houses to get the wheels of their imaginations turning. Or, if you're looking for ways to keep them happy and imaginative outdoors, we've found some of the best mud kitchens as well as the best play tents and teepees, so they can climb right into their own world.

Here are our pick of the best doll’s houses for children...

1. Le Toy Van Cherry Tree Hall Doll’s House, £219.95

best-heirloom-toys_213900-811ed0a

Age: 3+

Dimensions: 35cm x 92cm x 66cm

More like this

This grand wooden doll’s house has 4 levels, an opening front door, staircases with banisters, and windows with working shutters. The front of the house has two panels that open for easy access, and the roof lifts on a hinge so you can get to the attic room. There are tasteful paint finishes which are different in every room.

Parents who have used the house with their children were impressed with the design and quality of the product. "It’s a lovely timeless design, and there’s plenty of room for more than 1 child to play at the same time," said Christy, mum of 2.

"It’s very sturdy and a good size. Definitely an investment purchase but a present they’ll always remember," said Olivia, mum to twins.

Available from: Amazon, Cuckooland and Kidly

2. Abbey Manor Dollhouse, £96.79

kidkraft abbey manor

Age: 3+

Dimensions: 58cm x 32.75cm x 71.75cm

This large wooden, Victorian-style doll’s house has 3 floors and 5 bedrooms. It is double-hinged, so it opens all the way up - or can be folded away and stored. It has a removable wraparound porch, a balcony and 16 accessories, including furniture, like a piano and a grandfather clock. The house is suitable for dolls up to 5 inches tall.

It's worth keeping in mind that it needs quite a lot of assembly and could be tricky to line up correctly. However, one reviewer did say their 13 year old grandson was able to put it together himself for his 3 year old sister and that, "she plays with it almost everyday."

Available from: Amazon

3. Olli Ella Holdie House, £79

olli ella holdie 2

Age: 3+

Dimensions: 26cm x 24cm x 27cm

This pretty, lightweight doll’s house is portable and opens up so kids can play with its 2 levels and 5 rooms. The carry handle allows it to be easily closed up when play is finished and moved into another room. As kids often want to play where you are rather than in their bedroom, we think a portable doll’s house is a smart idea.

Made from pinewood, the house should be light enough to be carried by even littler ones. It is really well-made and looks stylish, too. And you can buy matching furniture and dolls to go inside.

One parent was impressed with the quality of the dolls house, saying,"the Holdie house is perfect. Well made, it looks great and my children love playing with it," while a grandparent added, "Such a cute house! My grandchild loves playing with it."

Available from: Olli Ella and Kidly

4. Plan Toys Slide N Go Doll’s house, £169

plan toys slide n go

Age: 3+

Dimensions: 32cm x 36cm x 24.5cm

This doll’s house is made up of 3 sections, which can be set up any way your child likes. It’s a good size and the sections can slot back in when they’re finished playing. It can also be carried from room-to-room with a carry-handle and comes with an impressive 37 different furniture pieces.

The 3 sections can be configured in so many different ways each time you play. It folds up neatly too, without disturbing the scenes your little one has made. Plus, it’s made from 100% natural rubber and plan wood.

Available from: Smallable

5. Playmobil Deluxe Doll’s House, £120

playmobil doll house

Age: 4+

Dimensions: 60cm x 27cm x 55cm

This self-build playhouse has 6 rooms, comes with a functioning doorbell, a balcony and a mailbox. It's worth noting that each room set is sold separately and that two AAA batteries AAA x 2 required to make the fancy extras work.

While we’ve heard it takes a while to put together, isn't that part of the Playmobil fun? Once assembled, you can turn on lights, ring the doorbell and buy separate add-ons - like room sets - for it. It doesn’t have an opening front though - so you can’t close it up when the play is finished. But it looks super cute in any kid’s bedroom!

The house has been popular with previous buyers and is recommended by Amazon, scoring an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars from well over 500 reviews. Parents were impressed with the real working features, with one buyer saying the house was, "a really nice item that my 4 year old daughter loves playing with, especially as you can turn lights on [and there is a] real doorbell," although it can take a while to put together, according to some reviews.

Available from: Amazon

6. Bigjigs Sunflower Cottage, £134.99

bigjigs sunflower cottage

Age: 3+

Dimensions: 60cm x 60cm x 35cm

This sweet house comes with a 6 piece doll family, 2 pets and 25 pieces of furniture. It includes stickers to add to the house. The roof lifts back, giving you loft access, and the windows all open and there’s also a sliding door at the back. It will require an adult to assemble, though.

We love the furnishings and that you can get access to the loft and rooms in different ways. We did read a reviewer advise that you add the stickers before you assemble, though, which could be a good tip. As well as this Sunflower design there are also Blossom and Rose designs to choose from too.

Rose design available from: Uber Kids

Blossom design available from: Amazon

7. Lego Friends Mia’s House, £69.99

lego mia's house

Age: 6+

Dimensions: 22cm x 31cm x 9cm

This Lego forest doll’s house is a 2-story cabin with a kitchen, bathroom and a living room and Mia’s bedroom, which Mia can get to by climbing a cool exterior climbing wall. The set also comes with Mia and her parents, and Mia’s pet horse and pet rabbit and loads of furniture and extras. These include a bunk bed, a lamp, a desk, kitchen things like a mixer, a frying pan, and lots more.

Previous buyers were particularly impressed with this Lego house, commenting on how much children enjoyed putting it together and playing with it. Recommended by Amazon, it has over 800 reviews averaging 4.8 out of 5 stars which is seriously impressive. One parent even went as far as to describe it as, "perfect just what my young daughter had been dreaming of," and another said it was, "a very nice Lego set, kept our 5 year old daughter busy for hours!"

Available from: Amazon

8. Djeco Cubic House, £71

djeco cubic house

Age: 4+

Dimensions: 40cm x 40cm x 36.5cm

Djeco's Cubic House is an architect-inspired doll’s house that has a transparent roof, double-height living room with book-shelf wallpaper, 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living-dining room and a garden. The house is made of wood and plexiglass but the furniture is sold separately.

We love the contemporary take on the traditional doll’s house and how modernist it looks. This would suit a family who loves this style of architecture. It is really easy to put together, too. Reviewers have noted that non-Djeco doll’s house furniture doesn’t fit well in it, though, so - if you get this - you may be committed to the whole range.

Available from: Smallable

9. Plan Toys Victorian Doll’s House, £365

plan toys victorian house

Age: 3+

Dimensions: 73cm x 64cm x 32cm

This huge wooden house (73cm x 64cm x 32cm) has 3 floors, and an opening roof and front, working sash windows and staircases to take your little one’s dolls up to each floor.

This heirloom-quality solid wood house is the sort of thing you expect to pass down through the generations. It is beautifully made from rubberwood and plywood and would work well with furniture from lots of other brands.

Available from: Smallable

10. Chelsea Doll’s House, £99.95

kidkraft chelsea house

Age: 3+

Dimensions: 63.5cm x 33.02cm x 71.12cm

An open-fronted house that has 3 levels and 5 rooms. It has working window shutters, staircases and lots of colourful artwork on every wall and panel. This house does comes with furniture included, so it's already ready for your little ones' dolls to move right in.

This dolls house is a seriously popular model on retailer Amazon with well over 3,000 reviews and an average score of 4.5 out of 5 stars overall. A couple of the reviewers did mention that it could be tricky to put together, so it would be worth setting aside some time to assemble.

However, reviewers did say that, "the instructions about how to put it together were easy to follow," and overall buyers seemed pleased with the quality and included furniture, with one adding, "the colours are bright and pretty, good size, not too big or too small. Lots of little furniture."

Available from: Amazon

11. Melissa & Doug Fold & Go Mini Dollhouse, £46.99

melissa and doug portable doll house

Age: 3+

Dimensions: 33.5cm x 27.1cm x 18.9cm

This portable doll’s house comes ready-built with no assembly required, which will be music to a lot of parents' ears. We like that you can put all the accessories where you want them, lock it up, and carry it from room-to-room.

It's a 2-storey house which includes 2 play figures and 11 pieces of furniture, so it's pretty good value. This was something previous buyers commented on, saying, "excellent quality. Bought this as a Christmas present for my 3 y.o. daughter and she is very happy with it," and, "great little dolls house with sturdy structure, fittings and dolls."

Available from: Amazon

Advertisement

Read more:

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement