Why kids should play with Dolls for Child Development
What is the most common toy for little girls? It’s the doll! So many thanks to Famosa for sending us two beautiful dolls to try out with Miss Jade and experiment on the developmental benefit to play with dolls.
When people think about a gift for little girls usually they think of some kind of doll. You can’t go into any toy store without seeing hundreds of options for dolls for girls. But why are they so popular? Is it just because they are cute? Or is there a reason behind why kids should play with dolls?
Benefits to play with dolls
There are lots of benefits to playing with dolls. And as your child grows in age; those benefits change. But one thing remains the same. The child benefits from playing with dolls. And I don’t just mean girls. I mean all kids. Boys too. Yes, My boys played with dolls. They weren’t the same dolls that my daughter plays with but they had their own “boy” dolls they enjoyed.
- As new babies soft baby appropriate dolls provide comfort
- Improves motor skills and social skills
- Assist in teaching your child how to use their hands
- Begin utilizing their imaginations with Make-believe play
- As Toddlers they begin to learn more about how to “take care” of their dolls, which teach them compassion and selflessness.
- Dressing, moving the doll around, etc causes the child’s motor skills to develop and improve dramatically.
- Improve Child’s speech; as they work to talk to the doll. It gives practice for speech and communication skills
- Dolls can teach them positive ways to interact socially.
- For Pre-schoolers dolls further improves their social skills
- Creating imaginary scenarios for their dolls, they have the ability to see beyond themselves, to understand the repercussions of actions, and to develop important strengths, like empathy for others
- Also in school- dolls help children learn to share and again use their imagination.
With all these benefits wouldn’t you want your child to play with dolls too?
Dolls are Miss Jade’s weakness. Next to My Little Ponies that is. Haha!
But we know we can always get a doll for Jade and she will be one very happy little girl. And with her developmental delays we found for her to play with dolls dramatically aids in her therapy.
Two of her favorite dolls are from Famosa; Baby kisses and My Little Nenuco! Famosa is a brilliant Spanish toy company that has crafted high-quality dolls with engaging & unique features for the past 50 years and really knows how to make dolls. They have so many great features that encourage these developmental skills for when kids play with dolls!
In fact; when you look at the packaging they even show you which skills the dolls can help your child improve.
While Jade is older, that doesn’t mean she can’t still enjoy the baby doll. Infact she absolutely loves how both baby dolls are soft bodied. It makes them great for cuddling and hugging.
She loves to smell the My First Nenuco. It says it smells like a real baby. But, uhm…no. It’s MUCH SWEETER than a real baby. It really smells good. And Jade just loves to cuddle her and kiss her. Jade is found to often act as a little mommy and is very attentive to her My First Nenuco doll. Holding it, rocking it, making sure it has it’s pacifier, and pushing it around the house in her little doll stroller.
The My First Nenuco Baby Kisses is another of Jade’s favorites. She loves the bigger size and the kissing action. Because she loves to share affection. This baby helps her emotional development, motor skills and manual skills. And again the soft body is something Jade is really drawn to.
Playing with dolls has done a lot for Jade and her development. It helps her build stronger emotional development, imagination, motor skills, and has even helped her with her speech and communication because she is always talking to her baby dolls like a Mom would talk to her baby.
If you want to learn more you can find Nenuco on Facebook
How does your child play with dolls to help their development?
Your daughter is really cute.My girls always have loved dolls,my boys have never really been interested in dolls but I really do not see any harm if they wanted to play with them.
I love the pictures of your daughter, she is so precious. My sons also play with dolls and I know that it upsets their dad sometimes but I really agree with you, there is a lot of benefit to loving on a dolly. Thanks for sharing this.
Your daughter is so cute and what a lovely doll.
I had lots of dollys when I was a little girl. My boys have a few stuffed animals, but no dolls here.
These pictures are just precious. I loved playing with dolls. I use to play school with mine all the time. It helped me reinforce the things I had learned at school that day because I would teach them whatever I learned that day at school.
I also love how dolls teach children how to be kind and caring parents even boys playing with dolls that look like girls because when they grow up boys turn into dads who have daughters and playing with dolls is great way for a boy or a girl to learn about how to care for another person like a smaller child.
I loved baby dolls when I was little. My girl hasn’t grown into them yet… if she ever will. She prefers smaller, handheld toys, and won’t even play with Barbies.
All my kids play with dolls. I see no problem with letting even my son feed a baby. He is not as gentle as his sisters but it is still cute to see.
Every child should have a doll to play with! Doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or girl, they learn responsibility and the importance of being responsible for another.
I think dolls help children nurture and learn responsibility. Especially when you can see how your child treats their doll. My daughter often mimics my parenting with her doll. It’s the cutest thing.
My girls always loved playing with dolls when they were little. I never thought about it being a benefit to their development. Sadly, they are older now and moving on to other things.
I knew there were wonderful benefits to dolls, but it’s so neat to hear how it has specifically been fabulous for your sweet girl. I love hearing this!
Agreed. I am a big fan of dolls with my special needs kids.
And they are fun too! Using imagination in this kind of way is great too.
Great post. There are so many benefits to playing with dolls, and I don’t know why anyone gets upset when boys play with them, too. Love the pictures – your daughter is adorable!
My son has a Calliou doll and loves him! Dolls can be for anyone.
Dolls are one of the most educational and fun toys for kids out there. So much better than a game system or a note pad of some type. My sister and I had the best time playing with our dolls when we were growing up and my mom still has many of them.
Who knew there was so many great reasons to be playing with dolls as a child – fantastic 🙂 x
I never really thought about it in depth but good to know there are some real benefits instead of it just being a toy or “security blanket”. Great post!
Great tips! My girls love dolls.
I totally agree! When I was pregnant with my son, we bought our daughter a doll so she could feel like she had someone to care after too.
Those photos are great and really cute! That is a nice input – I never really thought about how playing with dolls give a significance – thank you!
My baby is turning one this month and I had planned her first birthday gift since I found out her gender. She’s getting a doll! I always dreamed about having a nenuco as a child but that was an unattainable goal for someone living in poverty in a developing country. This is great!
My wife recently gave birth to our first child. We have been discussing what activities we want our daughter to be involved in for good development. I didn’t realize that playing with dolls can help toddlers learn how to be compassionate and selfless by taking care of something besides themselves. Those are characteristics we definitely want our daughter to have.
The part where you mentioned that dolls for toddlers are quite necessary as it would help them improve their social skills, imagination, and empathy while having the benefit of having something to provide them comfort is quite interesting. That is quite helpful to learn too as my twins are more into their gadgets which is why I was thinking of purchasing some good old toys to take them away from the digital world and play with their own rules and story. I’ll be sure to purchase some good looking empathy dolls for my daughter and son for them to play with. Thanks!