Understanding the Dollhouse in Play Therapy

by Play Therapy Student
(Atlanta)

Building my play therapy dollhouse was a fun and interesting experience. I started collecting household items at the beginning of the semester and began the actual building of my dollhouse about a month ago. I have always loved dollhouses and decorating homes, so I used this dollhouse activity as an opportunity to combine two things that I love. It is always easier for me to complete a daunting task if I can identify the joy in that activity.

Building the play therapy dollhouse became less about me working to achieve a grade and more about me creating something special and handmade that I could be proud of and enjoy.

I spent approximately 16 dollars on my play therapy dollhouse, which is unbelievable to most because I put so much detail in the house. Everything in the dollhouse was either handmade or repurposed from something around my house. I went around my entire house and collected every item that I thought could possibly be repurposed for the dollhouse.

For the chairs in the kitchen I used cut out toilet paper rolls and covered them with orange ribbon that I had left over from my Christmas decorations. The kitchen table top was the black top from a jar of hair gel, and the base of the table was from a bottle of B12 vitamins wrapped with fabric.

The cabinets in the kitchen were made from empty soap boxes that I wrapped in white paper and hand drawn cabinet faces. The top cabinets were empty skittles boxes, the faux granite countertops in the kitchen were made from poster board and glued on scrapbook paper, and the kitchen refrigerator was a match box wrapped with silver wrapping paper.

As I said before, I love to decorate so I decorated this play therapy dollhouse the way that I would decorate my own home, just on a smaller scale. All of the beds were made from empty match boxes. The sectional sofa was made from a two paper jewelry boxes and covered in left over fabric, and I used cotton balls and ribbon to make the throw pillows.
My favorite rooms in the dollhouse were my mother’s room, my dream bedroom, the living room and the kitchen.

My mother’s room and the living room were the most elegant. However, my bedroom was the most fun to recreate because it brought back so many memories from my childhood. I spent a lot of time alone in my room growing up. I had forgotten how lonely I was as a little girl. I was truly a latch key kid.

It explains why it has always been so important for me to be home for my children. My mother worked two jobs most of the time and my brother was always away doing something. In fact, I have very few memories of my brother and I as children. I felt a lot like an only child because he was several years older than me.
Creating my bedroom reminded me of several things that

I loved growing up such as playing Ms PAC MAC, watching TV shows such as Scooby Doo, Wonder woman, and The Jetsons. TV was my fantasy world when I was little. It was my way of escaping the loneliness. I did not have a bad childhood that I can remember. I only remember spending a lot of time alone and having a lot of responsibilities at a young age because my mother was always working.

Overall, this play therapy dollhouse was a wonderful experience. Over the past month, I have used the dollhouse a stress reliever and a way to release nervous energy. I love creating and doing things with my hands so this project was not really a chore for me. It would have been stressful if I had waited until the last minute to start, however for the first time, I actually gave myself plenty of time to complete this assignment.

I created the play therapy dollhouse knowing that once it was completed I would give it to my boyfriend’s three year old little girl. I wish that my daughter was young enough and still interested in dollhouses. I am anticipating her excitement when she sees the dollhouse for the first time.


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