Child development concepts and theories

Child Development

Fairy tales are a rich source of characters that appeal to children. The colorful plots and colorful stories pique the interest of children that makes them more imaginative. Female children tend to prefer princesses and male children tend to look up to male heroes. Three of the most famous fairy tale stories portray women as damsels in distress who were saved from the evil villains by their Prince Charmings as knights in shining armor.

Cinderella is a story of a rags-to-riches heroine who exemplifies the female characteristic of being creative, submissive and seeking of approval from her stepmother. She was shown as looking up to her stepmother and desperately seeking for her acceptance and love. Snow White is a princess who likewise has a stepmother, and is considerate, emphatic and aware of other's feelings (the Seven Dwarves). She was seen as very industrious, others-oriented, always attending to the needs of her friends and even strangers. Sleeping Beauty meanwhile shows gentleness, kindness and tactfulness. She shows kindness to creatures around her. Meanwhile, though as supporting casts, heroes in these fairy tales were seen as active, adventurous, brave, confident, and displays leadership. "

This stereotype portrayal of characters influence what type of role a children play. They model after their favorite fairy tale character and this influence the gender-type roles they have later. Girls identify with princesses who are usually seen to be pretty, beautiful, shy, industrious, eager to please, obedient and has a sweet character. Boys tend to be active, very adventurous, playful, ambitious, exemplifies leadership and rough. Girls keep to themselves, keeping things neat and clean and talk in soft to moderate voice, whereas boys tend to be rowdy and active.

My siblings were busy playing in the yard with their playmates. There were five of them, three girls and two boys, and they were playing a sort of princesses and prince with dragon type of game. I watched them through the glass window and noted the difference of girls and boys. The three girls identified with the Disney princesses. My youngest sister was Princess Aurora of the Sleeping Beauty, and displayed being playful and an animal lover, seen as playing with imaginary animals that included birds and mouse, dogs and cats. My other sister played the character of Snow White who was very accommodating and seemed to be the one sweeping around their "house." The third girl, a neighbor, was Cinderella who was also "helping" with the household chores. The boys on the side were playing fighting swords and was shouting and grunting. They also appear to be all around the place. As the afternoon progresses, the girls engaged in quiet and organized play, while the boys shifted from heroes to villains, as long as there is active play involved.