ad Elli Smiles Toy Review

My youngest two daughters at seven and nine years old still love to play with dolls. They push them around in what was my dolls pram, which is over thirty years old and they turn into mini mums as the play.

I've always believed that dolls are great for imaginative play, to get the cogs turning and to encourage interaction. Between the chatter, the dressing up and the role play, there is so much to be gained from simply playing.

Elli Smiles from Zapf Creations is a doll that offers the opportunity for all of the above, she is an interactive doll who really smiles and my girls were lucky enough to be gifted her for the purpose of this review.

What's in the box?

*Elli Smiles 43cm function doll

*dress

*pair of leggings

*hat

*pair of fabric shoes

*potty

*nappy

*bottle

*dummy

*identifying necklace

Elli comes complete with a small a battery for the necklace but it does also require 3 x AA batteries which are unfortunately not included - so be aware if you are planning on giving Elli Smiles as a present.

A real connection!

Now I'm sure you're thinking well what is so special about this doll as on first appearances she does look very similar to other dolls currently available. Well let me tell you.

Elli is able to build up a real connection to her doll parents (in this case my daughters) and she has the unique ability to recognise her parents when they wear the special identifying necklace, which will then cause her to react with an absolutely adorable smile!

Alongside this feature she has a variety of rather realistic functions and can be seen to express her feelings and show a range of emotions, just like a real baby would.

Play time

Children will love Elli as there will never be a dull moment with her.

I mentioned the realistic functions so let me tell you a little more about those:

Play with her and Elli is happy and will show you her beautiful smiles (remember to be wearing the necklace) 

Sooth her when she cries by rocking her gently and placing the included dummy in her mouth. Her mouth actually moves so you can see that she's really sucking on the dummy. 

When hungry you can feed Elli from her bottle - which you first fill with water - don't forget to burp her.

Put Elli on the potty when she needs to wee, there is a special heart emblem on her tummy to press when you want her to wee.

Our thoughts

Elli is very cute indeed.

The main feature of her smile is a good one because it really does work along with the sound effects that she makes, Elli is truly realistic and my girls have adored looking after her.

I have but two complaints.  

One is the ease of feeding her. Little ones will likely find it tricky to actually squeeze the water from the bottle into Elli so will need parental guidance but this is a minor thing when put against everything else that she is able to do.

The other is the fact that if you want to be given real instructions on how to use her, you have to search for them online as you are only given a basic picture format in the box.

To buy or not to buy?

Overall I would recommend Elli Smiles.

She's competitively priced (she's currently on offer) and can be found in all good toy retailers. My young toy testers fell in love with her and if my kids approve then so do I.