What a Doll (House)

As a pre-K teacher I am always looking for ways to improve my classroom resources, on a really tight budget. One thing I have wanted for a long time, was a doll house.  I finally figured out how to do it. A while back my father-in-law built me some awesome book shelves. That means I had extra space on one of my existing book shelves. I decided to use some left-over paint on the back of the shelf. I kept it bright and bold like the other colors in the room. I didn't add any windows or doors, Since I wanted to keep it neutral so kids could do what they wanted with the rooms.



Then came the furniture.

If you have ever tried to furnish a doll house, you know how expensive the furniture can be. It also has lots of tiny pieces that a class of 20 preschoolers would destroy in minutes. After looking at lots of magazines, websites, garage sales, thrift stores, etc. I found inspiration.

Using some scrap lumber that I had laying around. I came up with some sturdy, pint sized, furniture. They are essentially wooden blocks that I cut to size, sanded, then used a wood burning tool to add markings so the kids would know what each piece was.

Because there are no moving parts there is nothing tiny to break off. The kids don't even seem to mind that the drawers and doors don't open. Sure they sometimes stack the furniture like blocks, but I'm guessing they would probably do that anyway. It has been a week since introducing the new doll house to the kids, and there is still a line of kids waiting their turn at the station.

For dolls I picked up 5" dolls through a www.anesco.com. They have a family of 8 (grandparents-baby) for about $20 and they had a variety of ethnicities to choose from.