How Playing With Dolls Encourages Child Development
Children love playing with toys. Dolls have been around for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found wooden toy dolls dating back thousands of years. Today, dolls are one of the most popular kinds of toys that you can buy. There are plenty of different kinds of dolls available in the market, ranging from small ones to life-sized dolls that can even repeat a few phrases.
Numerous studies have shown that dolls actually have a very positive impact on a child’s development. Famous brands such as Gotz dolls have begun to offer a variety of different kinds of dolls, some of which are directed more towards creativity, while others promote learning in children. Here are some of the different advantages of playing with dolls as a child.
Cognitive and Motor Skill Development
Numerous studies have highlighted the fact that playing with dolls can actually have a positive impact on the development of a child’s cognitive and motor skills. When children receive a doll that’s appropriate for their age, they can perform a variety of different actions, such as taking off and putting on their clothes, combing their hair, and moving the body parts of the doll in order to see how they work. They can also replicate common actions such as sitting, moving, or standing using the doll. This allows children to develop fine motor skills and can also help them solve some basic problems.
Language Skills
Did you know that playing with dolls actually improves language skills? There are plenty of dolls that come pre-installed with different phrases. In fact, there are certain dolls which repeat phrases. Just press a button on the doll and it will start recording phrases, which will be repeated. As many children love to spend time with their dolls, they often talk to them, much like their parents speak with them. This encourages them to speak more freely and have somebody that they can talk with at their own pace.
Creativity
Children love playing with their dolls and coming up with hypothetical scenarios and creative situations in their heads. This not only opens their minds, but it also allows them to come up with simple solutions to real life solutions. Doll play encourages creativity and allows children to expand their imaginations. Playing fictional games and acting out different scenes in their heads often helps children to become more imaginative.
Caring and Nurturing Skills
Children are naturally very kind-hearted. Playing with dolls from a very early age allows them to develop their caring and nurturing skills even more. Most children often perform the same actions with their dolls as their parents do with them. Some children are incredibly attached to their dolls. Holding fictional tea parties, sleeping with their dolls, or simply talking to them helps children build stronger connections that enhance their caring side.