Inexpensive dollhouse for 4yr old boy

my son loves playing with dolls/houses & i want to finally get him his own for his birthday next month, however i need some help to figure out the best set to match our needs 1) not a lot of space (we share a bedroom & also have housemates) 2) not a lot of money (need a basic set that's very affordable, though it'd be nice if it can be added to as well) 3) accepting that i'm gonna probably have to get plastic toys, but don't like the amount of emphasis on make-up & fashion i've seen in many of them (even in the preschool section!) 4) as gender nuetral as possible. he loves extremely 'feminine' & 'masculine' things (from frilly dresses & makeup to crashing trucks and so on) & i love that he embraces it all (though i tend to prefer to keep things more balanced) & want to encourage that especially as he gets older & gets more messages of what he 'should' like. he's in a public preschool with other children who are being raised with much more 'traditional' sense of things & i don't want to set him up to be harassed by playmates. any & all suggestions on brands, stores, etc. are welcomed ~ if you could please email me offline, that'd be incredibly helpful! thanks & take care

Five Little Monkeys (on Solano, near Cornell) has a folding dollhouse that I've been coveting for a while. It's also wooden, gender-neutral, and looked like it would fit in a small space. I don't know if it's still there, but they have stocked it in the past, and might be able to help you find it, if they don't have it anymore. Good Luck! Donna

A 2-shelf bookshelf makes a pretty decent dollhouse. Or, as a kid I had a great time furnishing shoeboxes and other containers as rooms that I arranged in different configurations - even more creative than just playing with a premade dollhouse, and very easy to store under the bed when you're done playing. If you enjoy that sort of thing, it can be really fun to decorate with wrapping paper, fabric scraps, spools, etc.

I love the Ryan's Room dollhouse stuff now, but it's expensive, though perfect in every other way (wooden, sturdy, modular and not too girly). They also have a fire station which comes with beds and things that I'm thinking of getting for my son as a manly version of a dollhouse (not that there's anything wrong with dollhouses for boys!). Good luck and have fun! Another mom of a boy who likes to play house

Dollhouse for a two year old

We'd like to get a dollhouse for our daughter who turns 2 this month. What kind is the best -- wood or plastic? What brands are good? I notice that for some of the wooden dollhouses, all of the furniture and dolls are sold separately. I don't want to spend more than $100 on something I'm not sure she'll like. Any suggestions? berkeley mom

Dollhouse for toddler boy

Hi. My son is 21/2 and, like many boys his age, obsessed with firetrucks, garbage trucks, construction trucks, and the manly men that tend to drive such vehicles. I am concerned that we are getting too truck focused around here- he does have many other interest and I know he would enjoy playing with a cool dollhouse. I don't want anything overly pink or Barbie-ish. I was considering the Fisher Price Little People's house, but a friend thought he would grow out of it too soon. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

Other ideas that might appeal to him are those play vacuum cleaners (my son loves to help me vacum and sweep with his toy broom). Or those little strollers for dolls (I got one for my son; at first he refused to have anything in it, especially a doll, but enjoys pushing it around and now occassionaly will give a stuffed toy a ride.) Those are physical activities that appeal to boys but break out of the stereotypes.

I know the nature versus nurture is a hot topic, but coming from an extended family of lots of kids and having done a lot of babysitting, you really see these sort of boy versus girl behaviours, no matter how they've been brought up. My older son and some of his friends were brought up in strict no toy gun households and no violent cartoons/movies. But they were forever making weapons out of carrots, sticks, shoes, you name it. Legos were used to make fighting space craft. It's hard to accept sometimes, but yet I appreciated their creativity. I've also found reading books like ''What's Going On In There?'' really helpful. That book is about brain development from conception to age 5, and reading about how boys and girls brains are wired differently has helped me come to grips with my 2 year old son already showing some of those typically male traits that my 11 year old and husband show! anon

Another alternative to the Little People is Fisher Price's ''Loving Family'' line. It's similar to Little People -- plastic, colorful, houses and vehicles have electronic sounds -- but aimed at slightly older kids. Somewhat less pink than Barbie. Not appreciably cheaper than Plan Toys/Ryan's Room.

All of these things are labeled age 3+ and it may be another year or so before your son is really interested, but I agree that a Little People house might be outgrown before it really catches his interest. Need a Truck Garage in the Dining Room

Another idea if you're feeling ambitious: When I was younger, I had a dollhouse that was built for me by my godmother....my little brother was always getting into it, which drove me crazy! My parents wanted to give him something of his own, but didn't want anything too girlie pink Barbie-ish. My dad built him a very simple ''horse farmhouse'' which was totally cool. One side was the living quarters with a kitchen down stairs and a bedroom upstairs. The other side of the house had four stables (on the bottom floor) and the upstairs had a ladder and was the ''loft'' (they put hay in it). It was very simple, but he loved the horses and dogs.....it was a fun mix of a classic doll house but with a twist! Good luck.... alexandra

Wooden Doll Bed or Cradle

Can anyone recommend a place to buy a nice wooden doll bed or cradle? The ones I saw shopping this weekend were all around $70 (gasp!). Thanks. Sarah