Doll’s houses have been a fixture in the play world of children for hundreds of years, but it’s reasonable to assume that long before then, children were acting out familiar scenes from their lives using props on a small, child-size scale. Archaeologists have uncovered toy-like figures dating back to pre-history. It's clearly a primal urge.
Why have these miniature replicas of our homes and other familiar settings become such a staple in our children’s play?The simple explanation is that doll’s houses - whatever their style or configuration - offer children the chance to explore and act out situations and experiences from real life in a safe and inconsequential way. This doesn’t only mean difficult or stressful situations (for example an scolding parent or a scary dog snapping at the heels of the postman), but also exciting or wished-for occurrences ( birthday parties, Christmas) and most often, everyday situations ( putting children to bed,) simply, children use doll’s houses to rehearse for real life, to understand the world they live in, channelling a very basic human instinct to learn and ultimately, survive.