Dora's Unicorn Trail Playhut Review

Hello! For my inagaural post, I'll be sharing thoughts on one of my littlest one's (age 18 months) favorite Christmas presents - the Dora Unicorn Trail Playhut & ball pit.

Dora was more of a "thing" when my older girls were little, and I didn't even think my toddler had ever seen the show when I picked this up at a local discount store. It was a good deal though, and I had been thinking of getting her some type of playhut/tent, since she loves hanging out in her older sister's play tent (which I'll review in a later post!)

Well, it was a major hit! I planned on keeping this in her bedroom, but she plays with it so much that I haven't moved it from the living room. One of her favorite games is to hide inside and ask "Is?" - which means she wants us to say "where is she??" and then find her :) She also loves to put balls through the holes on the front by Unicorno's head. Anyway, here's the breakdown:

PRICE: I paid $25, it's currently $24.95 on Amazon (see link below)

REAL LIFE PICS:

front view of the tent portion

view from the back

The front section (ball pit) - it did come with
around 5 more balls that what are pictured here, but
as you can see, you should still plan on buying more 
if you want to use it as a true ball pit. 

looking inside from the open top
(there's also no floor on the tent)

close up of the fabric, showing the small hole in
side wall,and some scratch marks from our cat

the other side (opposite the plain green side)

PROS:

• relatively inexpensive (compared to similar products)
• extremely easy to set-up and collapse
• you can fold up the back part and just have the ball pit area in use (to save space)
• some unique features for a play tent, with the two separate sections, crawl-through doors on the sides, and holes for tossing balls through

CONS:

• made with a very thin, light material (not nylon), it's not the sturdiest or most durable - our cat regularly knocks it over (if unoccupied) and we already have a small hole in one wall
• it does not come with enough balls to constitute a ball pit

RECOMMENDED?   Yes! Despite those few cons, I would still recommend this for the 3 & under age group. Older kids could technically fit in it, but they might prefer something larger and more durable.