Grand Balcony Dolls house: Review for Activity Toys Direct

As Activity Toys Direct ambassadors we have been extremely privileged to have reviewed some absolutely FANTASTIC items over the past year. We had tons of fun reviewing the Berg buddy Go kart and you can find our review (along with a video we made) here. We've also reviewed the Step 2 Fantasy vanity unit which continues to prove popular with Miss T playing with it daily.

And now we have another brilliant, BIG Step 2 product to review...it is the epic Step 2 Grand Balcony Dolls House. Made from Step 2's signature style sturdy plastic this dolls house is built to last. 

Although the bulk of it arrives in one piece, there is a little bit of assembly to do - putting on the roof and porch for example. The decals are added on afterwards too. To assemble the dolls house there are guide holes and you need to punch through using the screw into the part it is fixing onto. 

Once that little bit of assembling is done it is ready for hours of play. It is ideal for 12inch 'fashion doll' sized dolls and would make a very grand mansion for them to live in. 

Having said that, we've also used it as a house for cuddly toys and J has his eye on it to become a Moshlings mansion at some stage. 

We had a few bits of dolls furniture and a few accessories ourselves already which really helped to make this house a home for our toys but if you don't have any furniture, you could always improvise and make your own with old boxes and nik naks. 

The grand balcony dolls house really is very grand and big so it would make a brilliant main present for a little girl (or boy) for Christmas. If you were planning on getting it, you could ask friends and family to buy little bits and pieces of furniture for the dolls house if they are stuck for Christmas present ideas for your kids.

I'm not sure if my photos do it justice in terms of showing the size of the dolls house. It really is big and the pictures over on Activity Toys Direct probably give a better indication of size where you can see the Grand Balcony Dolls house in the context of a child standing next to it.  

I love how it is an open-back style dolls house giving plenty of room for children to play. Both the front and the back of the house have features making it suitable to play with all the way around (rooms accessible from the back and the balcony and door and windows are accessible from the front). There's plenty of space for several children to play with it at once making it ideal for siblings and also in childcare settings like childminders, preschools and nurseries. 

This product is so robust and sturdy, I can see us taking it outside during the summer months and I imagine it will last for years and years giving plenty of play value. 

Disclosure: We were sent this item as Activity Toys Direct Ambassadors for the purposes of review. Please note that furniture, dolls and accessories are not included. 

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