The implicit message I want to give to children is: 'Look, here is a villa made just for your children. The villa is sturdy, mobile and made from sustainable design materials. No expense has been spared; on the contrary. If your children - the dolls - are happy, this contributes to your own happiness.'

  
     
 

In the field of child psychotherapy, the villa is used for therapeutic play to facilitate contact with children, to make diagnoses, and even as a form of treatment. A Dutch health care psychologist confirms this: "The doll’s villa is good for perception and treatment”. While they play, children reveal ‘hidden information’ about themselves.

  
     
     
 

 

  
     
 
     
     
     
 

 
 
 
EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED

The Astrid Lindgrens Stockholm children's hospital is using the LILIANE dolls villa for creative therapy: "Seriously sick children, we observed, do not look at other people, but usually at the floor. For many years we had been looking for something that could stimulate contact between children. The dolls villa is exactly what we needed."
 
     
     
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

RIAGG Dutch Institute for Ambulatory Mental Health

NEW PLAY THERAPY WITH DOLLS VILLA

'DOLLS VILLA BENEFITS UNDERSTANDING AND TREATMENT'


■ Health psychologist Stankiewicz writes in the RIAGG 2008 annual report: ”The dolls villa is an excellent channel for making contact with children; certainly with children who have difficulty expressing themselves verbally. The villa is used for many different problems: from attachment problems, abuse, and behavioural problems to neglect".

■ Child psychologist Jeurissen: "The dolls villa is a very good and practical instrument that I have already been able to use with various clients. It's great for initial contact with the child, but also to be able to observe the child at play [copycat behavior, imagination, teamwork] and to recreate certain 'difficult' home situations for the child. Basically I'm just really happy with it!".

■ Adolescent psychologist Weckx: "Even teenage girls in my caseload look at our gorgeous dolls villa with big eyes: Oh!".

■ Play therapist Hoogeboom: “Toddlers and young children are usually barely able to articulate their problems, if at all. They often express their feelings and experiences far better in their manner of playing. For example, the dolls talk or fight with each other. A play therapist plays with the child, and through this play he or she helps the child express itself and process certain experiences. As a child grows, dialogue takes a more central role".
 
     
     
     
 

 
 
 
 
HIGHLY IMPRESSED

In 2003, the director of ASCO Educational Supplies in the UK, Tom Marshall, said: "Yesterday we delivered our first dolls villa here in Leeds. As it was a local customer we agreed to assemble the villa for them. It is the first time I have assembled one and I just want to say that I am very impressed with the way it fitted together, the clarity of the instructions and the quality of the finished article. The customer is one of a major chain of nurseries and they were absolutely delighted with it."
 
     
     
     
 

 
 
 
 
MORE QUALITY TIME

Doctor Swaans is a general practitioner with a practice in Bunde, the Netherlands: "Ever since we put the LILIANE dolls villa in my waiting room, I have been able to spend more quality time with my adult patients. Their children simply prefer to keep playing with the villa! They even beg to be brought back for another visit. I also regularly find fathers, mothers and grandparents crouching around the villa. This product really helps create a relaxed atmosphere at my practice."
 
     
     
     
 

 
 

ACT OUT DOCTOR - PATIENT RELATIONSHIP

A doctor at the university hospital in Maastricht: "When we first got the LILIANE dolls villa, I was amazed to see children actually playing together in the waiting room. They act out the doctor - patient relationship. Every time they come for a check-up they head straight for the villa!"
 
     
     
     
 

 
 
 

CHILD WELFARE | TREATMENT AFTER VIOLENCE AT HOME

"The Practice" foundation in the Netherlands offers help to children with development and|or psychiatric problems. Orthopedagogue Anne Maaskant: "The dolls villa has since been used intensively – for both diagnostic and for therapeutic objectives. The quality of the material is splendid. Our findings and experiences so far are positive."
 
     
     
     
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

VERY HELPFUL IN THE REHABILITATION PROCESS

The Otradnoye orphanage in Moscow received a complete LILIANE leading dolls villa as a gift, an initiative of Richard Doumen. The villa was a donation made by 35 participants in the economic mission to Moscow and Nizhni Novgorod in 2008. An orphanage in Murmansk received a LILIANE light dolls villa from an entrepreneur. 

 

"We have moved the dolls villa to the children's reception group. All of the children arriving in Otradnoye Center first enter the reception group and stay there for a few weeks. During this initial period, the children require more support and we need ways to create a safe environment for them. There, the sitting room has more space so the villa can be moved into the centre of the room when children want to play with it, and it can then be rolled back into a safe corner during the rest period. The children have made carpets and some other small things for the villa, which makes it very cosy and domestic. They spend a lot of time playing with the dolls villa."
 

■  "We realize now that this gift from the Dutch mission is really special and very helpful in the rehabilitation process of our children."
 
     
     
     
 

 
 
 
WORKING WITH A SICK CHILD

Rijnmond South Medical Center [MCRZ], J. Vos-Kuizenga: "We are delighted that MCRZ is the first Dutch hospital to receive the LILIANE dolls villa as a gift from two donors. Psychologists from the MCRZ Paediatric Department use the villa as an observation tool. This enables us to see how a child experiences his illness and his admission into hospital."
 
     
     
     
 

 

INCEST THERAPY

At the Clessiedra psychotherapy clinic in Rotterdam, the LILIANE dolls villa is often used for therapeutic purposes. Young patients can reveal incest experiences through their play with dolls.
 
     
     
     
 

 
 
 
 
 
VERY SUITABLE FOR HEALTH CARE

Medical child psychologist and expert on incest, Prof. Wolters, PhD: "Child psychiatry, in particular, makes frequent use of doll's houses. Playing with dolls allows children to cope with their [traumatic] experiences. In a relaxed atmosphere, they can let the dolls go through the experiences they themselves wish to avoid. The features of the LILIANE dolls villa, its size, its durability and its mobility make this product very suitable for hospitals, [medical] day-care centres and children's rehabilitation centres".

 
     
     
     
 

 
 
 

INTERACTion

Spaander, the contact person for Out of school care says: "When we provide tours to educational professionals who are thinking about setting up an Out of School Child Care Centre, their eyes light up when they see the LILIANE dolls villa. Our children love to play with the dolls villa, it encourages interaction among the children. And it's extremely durable: after almost a year of daily use, all the parts are still intact."
 
     
     
     
 

 

NATIONAL AWARD FOR INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS

In the autumn of 2000, the LILIANE dolls villa was the winner of the Dutch National Award for Innovative Designs. It was the first time in the 30 years of the Dutch Trade Mart that a toy had been awarded this prize.
 
     
     
     
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

BOYS PLAY WITH THE VILLA TOO

Do toys actually deliver to child care centres what the manufacturers promise? Every month the trade journal for the day-care sector publishes a short survey in which day-care centre staff review toys or playground equipment.

Staff: "Children from four to about six or seven years of age play with the dolls villa a lot. Boys play with the villa too. They use it as a garage for their cars. The villa looks great and the kids can access it from all sides. Toddlers love it too. They play with the building itself and the furniture rather than the dolls. The accessories from the villa are also used in other kinds of games. Sometimes the villa is used as a climbing frame. It is sturdy enough. So it’s thumbs up all around. At first, we were afraid it would be too big – but because it’s easily movable, it’s never really in the way." 

■  Magazine editor Marike Vroom: "LILIANE is highly recommended for out of school care. Pre-schoolers also enjoy it. The dolls villa is beautifully finished and its design is sound and sturdy.”
 
     
     
     
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

DONATION TO DUTCH WOMEN'S SHELTERS

All women's shelters as well as social shelters in the Netherlands will receive a LILIANE dolls villa. In this way, the sponsor is contributing to the renewal of contact between mothers and their children, victims of domestic violence.

The Federation of Dutch Care Centres: "The centres are very impressed with this sponsor's gesture. The LILIANE dolls villa is an addition to the help available to children at the centres. However, it's not just for children, the villa also invites the mothers to play. This relaxed contact between mother and child is essential for both of them. The dolls' villa is also used to observe children at play, establish a rapport with a child and to recreate difficult home situations so that painful experiences can be handled."
 

 

translated from Dutch

Johan Gortworst | Director of the Dutch Federation of Shelters [Federatie Opvang]:
"The Federation believes it is of vital importance to invest in children in shelters [6,700 each year], as this can help prevent problems in the future. Often, the children themselves become perpetrators or victims of violence, domestic and otherwise, later down the line. No stone is left unturned to give these children a positive new start and a dolls villa such as this can certainly help. It helps teach the children how to play again, how to play with their mothers, and helps build an ideal home where there is no violence. These are all fantastic things that the children have not often experienced.
This process rebuilds the basis that gives the children the freedom to be a child again. It allows them to grow up in the way that every child should. By investing in this dolls villa, you are investing in a better future for these children."