Childcare by Judy Lyden: Fancy Nancy is a Child's Delight

Several weeks ago, the Garden School increased our dress up play area with several wonderful Fancy Nancy items from Jakks Pacific. We got the darling little red shoes and the perfect frilly dresses and the sweet little dog and the outstanding doll, and let me tell you, the kids have not been out of the dresses since they arrived! As we are out of the school Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday every week for field trips, the clothes and dolls have been a real summer success on Mondays and Thursdays when we are at school.

What I love best about these dress up clothes is the incredible durability. They simply endure and endure! They are reasonably priced from Jakks Pacific, and they are available at Target Stores nationwide.

The children do not take their play clothes off to dress up - you can imagine what a nightmare that would be! So putting any kind of play dresses on must be really durable, and these clothes are super constructed. Every one of 50 kids have put and re-put these dresses and shoes on day in and day out and they still look brand new.

What my eye tells me is that the kids are having a wonderful time with these things, because they simply never come off the children. And they are reasonably priced so you can have enough items so that there is little fighting. Biggest problem is keeping the boys out of the dresses! The girls are very serious about their house play, and when the boys come to play, the whole play becomes crazy!

The shoes are slip on and perfectly sized to fit both the tiniest and the larger children.

Both the doll and the dog have been handled and re-handled and they are still beautiful and pristine.

These are the things you look for when buying children's toys. I could go on and on about toys I've purchased for children that break, tear, soil easily, fall apart in some way, and these items stay intact and provide hours of play every day.

I'm delighted with these toys, and so are my kids. And now for the punchline: Even the boys love this kind of make believe. A great buy, a great line of toys to play with. They have my personal endorsement, so next time you're at Target, look them up in the toy department. Judy Lyden.