The Step2 Happy Home Cottage & Grill Encourages Imaginative Play

I received the Step2 Happy Home Cottage & Grill at no cost to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

Every time my daughter would go to Toys”R”Us, she would immediately head to a playhouse they had on display. It was THE reason why she loved going to that store. It was always to “go into the house.” I knew it was time for her to have one of her very own and thanks to Step2, I couldn’t have received a cuter, more adorable, girly playhouse for my little girly-girl.

Just looking at The Happy Home Cottage & Grill puts a huge smile on my face. This playhouse is the most adorable thing I have ever seen and with all that pink I knew my daughter was going to LOVE it! Wow, was I right!

As soon as my daughter saw it fully assembled, she squealed in delight! I couldn’t help but squeal too when I saw her reaction. She ran to the house, opened the door, got inside, and gave me this million dollar smile that melted my heart beyond possible explanation.

The playhouse is easy to set up with simple instructions. My husband and I put it together in about 1.5 hours even with our daughter running around, which slowed us down a bit, haha. The house is really sturdy and the quality is great. This is definitely a toy that was built to last. A nice feature of it is the solid floor base. This is perfect for the days when it’s been raining and the grass is all soggy, you can go inside and not get your feet all wet. There are 4 little tiny drain holes in the bottom of the floor at the corners, should any water get inside. If the floor happens to get dirty, just use a little broom or vacuum to clean it up. Easy peasy!

The size of the house is really nice. The dimensions are:  46.5 H x 51 W x 35 D. It’s large enough to accommodate two small children inside with room to space. Or, one adult and one small child pretty close in proximity. My daughter and I like to get in and play house together, it’s so much fun! For when the weather gets colder, the playhouse is not so big that you couldn’t bring it indoors. The rectangular shape makes for easier placement in your home, as you don’t have to accommodate such a large toy.

My daughter has really been into imaginative play and this playhouse has brought it to a whole new level! The playhouse comes with a pretend phone and she loves to call grandma and all the Disney Princesses. It’s so cute, she will go from inviting grandma over to play to talking to Ariel about swimming in the water.

The working door and shutters are a perfect addition to this house. My daughter loves opening and closing them and playing peek-a-boo behind the shutters with me. She carries on conversations with me saying,  “hello”, then letting me know that she will be right back while closing the shutters. The she will open them and greet me again, while giggling.

The grill on the outside of the house is another really cute touch. She loves to cook food and pretend to eat it inside the house on her nice little table and built in seat. Of course, after washing her hands in the sink. ::wink:: Sitting on that chair is also perfect for her now infamous pretend calls.

The house’s piece-de-résistance is the doorbell. Such a sweet little “ding-dong” that is neither loud nor obnoxious. It’s kid-friendly and parent-friendly too! She loves ringing the doorbell before entering her house and then when inside, she reaches around and rings it again. Silly goose!

Another fun feature is the mailbox. You can slide a piece of mail through it and read it at the table inside. My sweetie likes to put a piece of mail through the mailbox and then ring the doorbell, like UPS would to drop off a package.

In addition to all of this, the house came with some cute-as-a-button stickers that you can apply. From a clock to a little fireplace, the stickers put the finishing touch on the house. They all help to add to the imaginative play and real-life feel.

The house only needed one little thing to make it complete in our eyes, and that’s flowers for the flowerbox! My daughter and I headed out to the local craft store and picked out some fake flowers and a foam block to make an arrangement.

All you need to do (if you want to make one of your own) is measure the box, which is approximately 11” x 2.5” and cut your foam block to fit. Once that is done, it’s time to get creative. Just cut down your flower stems to the height you like and arrange them as you wish. Then place the arrangement in the flowerbox and adjust your pieces as necessary. There you have it, a cute arrangement, custom-made for your little sweetie’s playhouse!

My daughter enjoys playing with her house from the time she gets up in the morning to when the sun goes down. In fact, she loves it so much, it’s hard to get her inside OUR house! Hehe. But, that couldn’t make me happier and it’s really helping her imagination grow. It’s wonderful to see her creativity and her developing personality shine with this toy. We love it and know you will too!

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Buy It: This toy is exclusively sold at Toys R Us.