PORTABLE DOLLHOUSES

Sometimes the dolls are looking for a little adventure.

For the footloose wanderers out there who want to try out life in the mountains, the city, or by the sea (or maybe just venture down the street to a friend’s house), it’s your lucky day. There are a host of portable dollhouse options on the market today.

For a truly portable dollhouse, check out the Fisher-Price Little People Surprise & Sounds Home and the Playmobil Take Along Modern Dollhouse. These models come with a handle and fully close up so that dolls and accessories can easily be transported inside the house (if only moving were this easy IRL!).

Others like to keep the air circulating. The Plan Toys Slide N Go Dollhouse and the Hape Happy Villa have handles or hand holes for toting around but have more of an open-air concept when it comes to the walls. This can work well in terms of play access but isn’t necessarily a sure bet for keeping dolls and furniture in place when you’re on the go.

There are a few dollhouses that do close up all the way and are small enough to move, but don’t have a handle and so aren’t technically portable. We’re looking at you Calico Critters Luxury Townhome and KidKraft Enchanted Forest. These work pretty well if you want something you can move easily from the basement up to the child’s room, but you wouldn’t necessarily want to cart them around town.

Looking for something a little different? For something small enough to fit in your suitcase, check out the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Victorian Pop-Up Dollhouse. It stands about 15” tall, but collapses to the width of a book. Carte&kids has a fabric dollhouse that closes up (also comes in a Sesame Street-themed version).

In this category we tested the Calico Critters Luxury Townhome Gift Set (full review here) and the Fisher-Price Little People Surprise & Sounds Home (full review here). Both are closable and portable, though the Surprise & Sounds Home has a slight mobility edge because all the pieces fit well inside of it and it has a handle.