Girl\'s Toys When They\'re Growing

Girl's Toys

When they're growing up, girls play with a wide variety of toys. Most, but not all girls play with dolls at some point. The dolls themselves vary considerably from Barbie-style fashion figures to softer, plush dolls to old-fashioned showpieces. The type of doll girls enjoy playing with depends on their age or personal taste. Dolls aren't the only toy n a girl's room, however. Most girls will have at least one board game with which to entertain friends or family members. Board games may be strategy-oriented or based more on luck and like dolls, may also be based on age. Finally, young girls frequently play creatively with arts and crafts. Several kits are designed specifically for children and include activities like beading or painting. These three basic classes of girls' toys: dolls, games, and crafts serve distinct purposes and functions for playtime.

Dolls are toys that can be enjoyed during solitary play or with friends. With friends, dolls come to life through the girls' imagination. For example, many girls will create lifelike situations or conflicts that their dolls have to work through. They may base their dolls' names, careers, and lives on characters from books, television, or real life. Dolls can have husbands, babies, or rule the world. No matter what ethnicity, size, or shape, a doll can be whoever the girl decides she is. Dolls are frequently age-specific but can transcend age too. Some dolls are designed specifically for young girls and are exceptionally soft, whereas others are larger, made of porcelain, and highly delicate. A distinguishing feature of dolls is that unlike board games, dolls are good toys for solitary play. The doll can become a companion and unlike any other girls' toy, takes on a distinct personality. A girl can carry a doll around with her all day, something she can't do with a game or a crafts set. Girls also come to know their dolls as if they were people, and treat them as if they were friends.

Like dolls, crafts can be played either alone or with friends. Crafts also challenge girls to develop their creativity and powers of the imagination just as dolls do. However, crafts are not as personal as dolls; girls rarely name their craft sets or assign personalities to them. Also, many mass-marketed craft sets do not stimulate the imagination as well as dolls because the projects are based on set patterns. Painting by numbers, stained "glass" kts, or even some jewelry-making kits provide the girls with patterns to work with rather than asking them to design their own. Nevertheless, crafts and dolls both offer creative, hands-on play. Craft activities can be shared with friends or family members and can be geared toward specific or all age groups.

Similarly, board games are collective activities that appeal to girls of different ages. Board games may include simple games involving cards or chess, or may be complex like Monopoly. Yet unlike either dolls or crafts, board games cannot be played alone. They are designed to stimulate competition and social interaction. Furthermore, board games have universal appeal and are gender-neutral. Most dolls and crafts are not enjoyable toys for boys, whereas most board games are. The whole family and both male and female friends can play with games like Risk, Life, Pictionary, or Trivial Pursuit. Games also involve different types of thinking skills than either craft sets or dolls. Strategic thinking, social thinking, and critical thinking are all emphasized during game play whereas creative thinking and unlimited imagination come to the fore when girls play with dolls and crafts.