princess

Melissa & Doug Deluxe 24-Piece Princess Elise Magnetic Dress-Up
$12.99
Ella is into Princess things. She loved the magnetic doll. She has other sets and spends alot of time playing with them.

Pretty Pretty Princess Sleeping Beauty
$14.99
I admit I was appalled when my 3-year-old daughter received this game (the title makes me ill - I try to avoid things "pretty" and "princess-y" for my daughter), but she LOVES it so much, I had to relent. I'm not sure why it's recommended for age 5 and up - any 3-year-old can follow this game with ease. Perhaps the reason is that part of the game involves "putting jewelry back," or "giving up the crown" to another player, and some younger kids may have a hard time with that.

My only problems are that the game board (which is a 4-piece puzzle, a small "educational" feature of the game) tends to come apart when brushed against with little feet; and that the numbers on the spinner are hard to read, as they are merely raised plastic, and the same color as the background. That was easily fixed by outlining the numbers with a red sharpie. My daughter enjoyed decorating the box with jewels, and adores wearing all the jewelry. She often just takes out the game to play dress-up. A favorite. (Even my 6 year old son enjoys playing it with his sister - it gives him a rare excuse to put on jewelry! He thinks it's a hoot.)

Disney Princesses Look and Find (Look and Find (Publications International))
$7.98
I own other Look and Finds and compared to this one, it was just too hard for my 2 year old, and even trying for myself to find the items. In other Look and Finds, the picture that you are asked to search for is exactly as shown in the book. In this one, it is not too size, and not exactly as image, for example, look for the camel in the scene and only the head of the camel is shown. The rest of the body is hidden behind a tree. Or it asks you to look for a ying yang. In the scene, it was a smaller ying yang in the palm of someone's hand. The scenes are very busy, similar to a Where's Waldo scene. I have to put it away, as my 2 year old gets frustrated if it takes her too long and i don't want her to get turned away by it. It will definitely be a challenging fun thing to do, maybe in few more years.

Melissa & Doug Princess Mirror - DYO
$6.99
This mirror is really cute and I love the concept. We were disappointed because the glitter sticks were empty and the glue would not hold. I used super glue to make everything stick, but that meant I had to do it instead of my little girl, who directed where to put what. She does like it though and plays with it when she does her "make-up."