Dolls were my favorite toy growing up. I had baby dolls, Barbie dolls and stuffed animals. If it was a doll, I loved it. When I was younger, I slept with about 5 dolls in my bed. They made me feel safe. When I got older, I slept with a giant teddy bear. When I started dating my husband in high school, he gave me a teddy bear for our 1-month anniversary, and I slept with that thing every night. In fact, that teddy bear still sits next to my bed, and we have been married almost 30 years!
My kids played with dolls when they were little. Even my sons, which was not as accepted 30 years ago as it is today. My daughter loved her dolls just as I had loved mine. She had a special doll that went everywhere with her. I made her and her baby doll matching dresses. She used to play school with her dolls. She would set them all up on my big bed and give them each some paper and a pencil. She taught them her math assignments and her spelling assignments. That is how she learned her multiplication tables and all her spelling words. When she was a little older, she started playing with American Girl Dolls. She learned a lot about history by reading the stories that went along with those dolls.
Today, it seems kids stop playing dolls much younger than they used to. Video games have claimed our children’s attention and keep it until they are grownups. These games have their place. But kids do not get the same benefits they get when playing with other toys such as dolls. A recent study shows that doll play activates the area of the brain associated with social information processing such as empathy. This happens even when the child was playing alone and was equal in both boys and girls. When left alone to play tablet games, this area of the brain was not as activated. This study is important because it is the first one that shows scientific neurological proof of the effect of doll play on the brain. (Whitty, 2020) Playing with dolls allows children to create an imaginary world, such as my daughter playing school with her dolls. It teaches a child how to nurture and care for others. This will be helpful when the child needs to care for a pet or help to care for a younger sibling.
With this information in mind, maybe we should encourage our children to unplug, turn off the tablet, get off the video games and stimulate their imagination with old fashioned doll or stuffed animal.
References:
Natcharian, L. (n.d.). That’s my baby: How dolls promote emotional development in both sexes. Rose & rex. https://www.roseandrex.com/blogs/blog/77834501-that-s-my-baby-how-dolls-promote-emotional-development-in-both-sexes
The benefits of playing with dolls. (2014) Childventures Blog. https://childventures.ca/blog/2014/12/benefits-playing-dolls/
Whitty, A. (2020) New study shows that playing with dolls allows children to develop empathy and social processing skills. Frontiers Science News. https://blog.frontiersin.org/2020/10/01/human-neuroscience-child-play-dolls-cognitive-social-benefits-children/#:~:text=A%20team%20of%20researchers%20from,skills%2C%20even%20when%20playing%20by
