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First Friends
Doll Play Holds Valuable Life Lessons
By John W. Lee
In addition to the fun and enjoyment this brings to young children, doll play also serves beneficial developmental purposes by allowing kids to work out their emotions in a safe context. Scolding their baby doll or stuffed animal lets children work out their feelings without involving another child.
The Right Doll
Providing your 4- or 5-year-old with age-appropriate role-play dolls, fashions and accessories is critical to making the most of this vital stage of play and development. Look for dolls that emphasize positive attributes you want to encourage. Also, be on the lookout for dolls designed to emulate a similar age range as your child. Giving a 4-year-old an adult or late-teen doll is great for aspirational play, but they will benefit far more from role-playing with a doll that is of their own peer group. This really opens the door for them to work out situations that they are in currently as well as in situations that they may find themselves in the near future. Keeping Doll Play Alive
With all their ability to help children learn vital life skills, try on adult lives, work out emotional and social issues and explore caring and nurturing, dolls should remain a cornerstone of childhood play from infancy all the way through the preteen years. Doll play enhanced by good story connections such as Madeline is a great way to reinforce and doll play throughout early childhood. These kinds of stories combined with classic doll play inspire new generations to keep the doll play tradition alive.