Fisher-Price Dream DollHouse

Magical Dollhouse Provides Interactive Fantasy And Fun

A Review of Fisher-Price Dream DollHouse

Judy Pozar

Fisher-Price Dream DollHouse engages preschoolers in pretend play in an

interactive environment. Children use the mouse to explore and rearrange six

rooms, solve problems and act out fantasies. Magical sprites and hidden

mouse holes add to the fun.

When children enter the dollhouse, they are welcomed by three characters:

Mrs. Baggs, Cowboy Bob, and an unnamed little girl, who can be anyone your

child wants her to be. Children are also greeted with music, sounds,

animations and voices inviting them to play. They can then choose any of six

rooms to explore by simply clicking the mouse.

In each room, a child can click on objects, some of which have special sounds

or animations attached to them. Many objects can be moved, so that a child

can put clothes on a dress form, put away groceries in the kitchen, or set up

a tea party in the playroom. There is a container in each room full of toys

and fun things the child can place in the room. The child can also select

playmates by clicking on special buttons in the room.

One special feature you won’t find in a real dollhouse is the ability to

magically redecorate with Sprites. Three fairies — Sparkle, Flora, and

Turnabout — can move about the room (controlled by the child with the

mouse). Twinkling lights and music show which objects the Sprites can change.

Flora might change the bedroom rug and bedspread into a lush garden. Children

find it fun to discover which things the Sprites can change and how they are

transformed.

Something else you won’t find in an ordinary dollhouse is the secret mouse

world. Mice leave a clue in each room, describing where their mouse hole is.

By clicking on a piece of cheese, the child will hear the clue. She may need

to move some objects in order to find the mice’s secret place. Once inside

the mouse hole, there is another room to explore. There is an ice cream

factory in the kitchen’s mouse hole, a mouse wedding in the playroom’s mouse

hole.

Also in each room is a telephone. Clicking on it will cause it to ring. Then

Mrs. Baggs, Cowboy Bob, or the little girl will appear with an idea for an

activity, such as “Help Sparkle change the living room into a playground,” or

“Hey, I know! Let’s have a tea party for the dolls.”

The graphics, animation, music and other sounds are, for the most part, very

pleasing (although Mrs. Baggs’ voice irritated this reviewer after a while).

Most of the time, the program worked smoothly. Occasionally, the sound and

animation seemed to get out of synch. For example, the phone would ring and a

character’s face would flash briefly on the screen, but no words would be

spoken. Sometimes the cursor would disappear during an animation (as it is

supposed to) but would not reappear. Getting completely out of the program

and Windows and restarting usually solved the problem.

The interface is simple and intuitive. No reading or keyboard use is

required, so even very young children can use this program without

assistance. The exception to this is that there is no easy way to exit the

program. To quit, you must hold down the CTRL key and press Q.

Dream DollHouse is not particularly educational, in that it does not attempt

to teach preschoolers academic skills, such as reading and math. However, it

provides hours of fun and fantasy play, with a little bit of problem-solving

thrown in. It is an ideal program for developing mouse skills in very young

children.

While the program’s stated age range is 3-7, it could be used successfully

with an even younger child. Older children would probably become bored

quickly. Once all the rooms have been explored to the limit, the dollhouse

would no longer be such an intriguing place to visit.

Dream DollHouse does not come with a manual, but none is needed. When you

install the program, a Parent Tips icon appears. This on-line mini-manual

contains useful information on how to get the most out of the program. It

also provides some ideas for games to play with your child. It can be printed

if desired.

Most preschool girls (and some boys) who like dollhouses and playing pretend

will enjoy this easy-to-use delightful program.

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