I purchased one of these for each of my daughters. They have played with Zhu Zhu pets in the past and have enjoyed them so I thought this would be a cute gift. I did purchase 2 of the playhouses as well so they would have a place to play with them, however, the Zhu Zhu houses would work also to contain them in a space. I wouldn't mark these as educational toys, just as something silly to do and entertain them. They don't do a whole lot, just run around, back and forth, but their legs move when they go around which is a great feature. I am sure that they would like to expand their collection so I will likely be purchasing more in the future.