Caring Corners - Mrs. Goodbee Interactive Dollhouse

Mrs. Goodbee's house is a special place where preschool-age girls can let their imaginations run wild, all the while learning some valuable lessons about caring, sharing and preparing. It's learning while you play! The interactive dollhouse virtually comes alive to talk, sing and play with girls -- and features over 400 activities, songs and sounds.

When you ring the doorbell, Mrs. Goodbee's eye pop open, her lips light up, and she transforms into a friendly charcter that guides girls through acts of caring, sharing and preparing for life-long responsibilites. As they play, she activates eight different "hot spots" throughout the house, such as the doorbell, the nursery cradle, the refrigerator, the boombox on the rooptop playgrund, the toilet and bathroom sink, the pet bed, and a special "Day and Night Window."

In addition, Mrs. Goodbee offers tons of play space with its unique, tri-fold design. It features 12 spacious rooms so two children can easily play together at the same time. Plus, there are special passageways in the mid-section that allow girls to share dolls and accessories with each other.

Another special feature is the Good Deeds Garden. Every time a child does a real-world good deed, she can take a sticker (included in the Parent Guide) and decorate the back of the Mrs. Goodbee dollhouse. Some stickers hide secret codes that unlock special games on CaringCorners.com, so she'll have hours of fun with online activities as well! Visit www.CaringCorners.com to play interactive learning games designed to encourage children to display positive social behaviors. Requires 3 "AA" batteries, included. Measures 24"L x 9"W x 16"H.

The colorful Mrs. Goodbee Talking Dollhouse from Caring Corners is sure to inspire lots of imaginative and cooperative play. Little girls will love the fun songs and sound effects, as well as the online good deeds garden they can gain access to. Small parts make this dollhouse inappropriate for children under three.

The dollhouse has a fold-out design that features a total of 12 rooms. View larger.

Sound effects make the dollhouse interactive and engaging for children. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Bright colors, fun songs, and lots of rooms to play in The Bad: Plastic construction; not many accessories included In a Nutshell: This dollhouse will inspire lots of imaginative play At a Glance Ages: 3 to 6 years Requires: 3 AA batteries (included)

Meet Mrs. Goodbee
With only a few plastic parts to snap in place, and with the three AA batteries already installed, the Mrs. Goodbee Talking Dollhouse is ready to go moments after it comes out of the box. Depending on how old your child is, you may need to apply the decorative decals yourself. There's 66 of them, including family photos for the walls, a shopping list to hang on the fridge, and dishes for inside the dishwasher.

When your little girl is ready to play, she simply turns the unit on and rings the doorbell, which will cause the dollhouse to come to life. Mrs. Goodbee's eyes snap open, her lips light up, and she sings a welcoming song. As your child plays, eight audio activation points throughout the house keep the experience interactive. In the bathroom, Mrs. Goodbee offers comments like, "Flush, wash, wonderful! Good job." When the fridge is opened, she may say "Brrrrrrrr" in response to the rush of cold air.

Explore the Good Deeds Garden Online
There's another whole world waiting online at www.caringcorners.com, where little girls can use the secret code that comes with their dollhouse to unlock the good deeds garden. The dollhouse offers children several games and tasks to choose from. Children can try their hand at feeding hungry fish or picking out the differences between two similar pictures.

This feature is not simply designed with fun in mind; it's also designed to promote responsibility. Every time a child does a real-world good deed, she can take a sticker from the Parent Guide and use it to decorate the back of the dollhouse. Secret codes that unlock additional games are hidden under the stickers, making this a fun and engaging process, and one that encourages positive social behaviors.

Fun Details and Additional Friends
Even beyond the great sound effects, the Mrs. Goodbee house is full of thoughtful details that keep playtime interesting. Windows in the bedroom move up and down to reveal different scenes for daytime and nighttime. A lever by the oven reveals muffins, a pie, or a turkey cooking. With its unique fold-out design and six rooms on each side, there's plenty of room for multiple children to play at the same time. And when it's time to clean up, simply fold the house up with your child's dolls inside to save space.

With all the use this dollhouse is sure to get, we are concerned that its construction may not hold up over time. The hinges and platforms seem sturdy, but they are made out of fairly thin plastic. Additionally, there aren't a lot of accessories that come with the dollhouse. This may not be an issue if your child already has dolls that will fit in this dollhouse, or if you invest in one or more of the fun accessory packs, such as Table Manners, A Book at Bedtime, or the Pet Playground.

What's in the Box
Interactive dollhouse, chimney, window, steps, swing, chair, dog, baby, girl, card key, three AA batteries, and three sheets of label stickers.

It is certainly a cute house and my granddaughter loves it. I am disappointed with it because it doesn't seem very sturdy for little girls to play with. The stickers don't stay on and the rooms aren't big enough for the furniture, even if the table benches were able to stand up without falling over while putting the dolls on them, the dolls are difficult for little hands to put them on the benches. It usually takes me a few times putting the dolls up to the table to keep everything from falling over. I think this being made for 3 year olds, things should be much more sturdy.

This is an amazing toy. My almost 5 year old got this for Christmas and we haven't stopped playing with it yet. The down side to this toy is all the accessories that go with it is sold seperatly. My friends daughters came over ages 5-8 and played with it for hours. So much to do and see with this house.

I bought this dollhouse for my daughter for Christmas. She seems to realy enjoy the house but she gets frustrated. The Caring Corner furnature sets are not very sturdy and they don't stay on the floors very well. The TV and Chair constantly fall over. The bed slides around and falls off and the vanity is impossible to make stand up for any length of time. You should forget ever sitting the momma doll on the tiny stool in front of it. The front steps constantly pop off and so does the chimney. When you have it all set up straight its very flimsy and will fall over easily with a push.
In my opinion the dollhouse is not worth the high price and then when you buy the furnature that goes with it you have easily dropped over a hundred dollars into it. You can buy better made dollhouses for that amount of money.
The educational value is extremely limited too. I just don't feel my daughter gets much out of it. Yes, she does have fun with it but she will become easily frustrated with the furnature and the fact it tips easily.

My 3-yr old daughter loves the doll house. We also bought several of the accessories that go with it. The interactive messages are easy to understand and she has played with it for hours at a time. You can also fill the box with used clothes and toys and take to Goodwill. They thank your child and tell them how important it is to give back. They also get a certificate from Goodwill that allows them to play different games on the Learning Curve website. This is a great toy that helps re-enforce a good message.

My children were given this doll house for Christmas. It is sturdy (except the chimney keeps falling off) and they are having a lot of fun playing with it. It would be a great toy with the expection of how it portrays bottle-feeding as normal. The dollhouse came with a baby with a bottle in it's hand. It is not removable unless you somehow cut it out. The dollhouse talks when you push the button, and one of the things it says is something along the lines of, "The baby is hungry. Go to the refrigerator and get the baby a bottle."

I realize that many families do bottle feed babies, and especially mothers who return to work will leave bottles of expressed milk for their babies. However, I would like to teach my children that feeding a baby at the breast is what is normal and this doll house does not teach this.