A child’s development is a long and vast process because it encompasses the growth and acquisition of various skills. That’s why play happens to be so important: what seems as mere fun is actually deeper, a learning process in disguise, and knowing this means it’s your job as a parent to make up as much playtime for your child as possible.
Though there are different play activities and toys you can choose to ensure your child has the needed development of gross-motor, cognitive and social skills, nothing beats playing with dolls – the staple toys. Not surprisingly, they’re some of the oldest known toys recorded, the earliest being documented in the ancient world of Egypt and Rome.
Having this in mind, it’s advisable to put stereotypes aside that dolls are mainly girls’ toys and introduce them to boys too. Nowadays, the array of such toys is vast, a great example being the vanilla scented miniland asian girl doll that’s part of a bigger collection of anatomically correct dolls you can choose from for your little one. Such a purchase is even more special when you find out all the benefits awaiting your child!
Engaging the Motor Skills
When we think of motor skills, usually we imagine mazes and blocks, however playing with dolls also has its impact on this development more than we see. For instance, whenever your child grabs the doll from the plastic bin toy organiser and starts preparing it for whatever the theme or activity of the play is, could be preparing it for school, sleep or eating meals, he or she tones the motor muscles.
This is especially the case with the miniland doll that arrives in underwear and your child has to pick out the clothes and shoes to dress it. While zipping, unzipping, buttoning and unbuttoning, your child engages the arms, hands, particularly the thumbs and index fingers so there’s considerable improvement with the precision and pincer strength.
Fostering Empathy and Caring for Others
Regardless whether your child is playing with others or alone, dolls inspire a sense of care. As opposed to the big world that surrounds them, having the chance to interact with someone more of their size, and even take responsibility for the life of the miniland asian girl doll, or any other’s well-being by offering food, shelter, and talk teaches them how to turn into kind adults who are full of empathy, compassion and understanding. That’s why boys should be included in this enriching play experience too.
Teaching Responsibility
If you want your child to become a responsible individual, one who would help you out at home with the siblings or pets without making a fuss, use playtime as your chance to teach some important life lessons about grooming, hygiene, as well as sticking through to daily chores and tasks. Besides taking care of the miniland baby doll and its “life”, your child will also learn how to be organised and clean up his or her mess after the play, storing all of the toys back in their appropriate containers.
Evolving the Social Skills
You’ve probably heard that a child’s brain is like a sponge and it’s true! By the age of six, children learn huge amounts of information, including the words you sometimes think escape them.
When they’re playing with miniland dolls, they come to use these words they’ve acquired, which is a great exercise not only for increasing their vocabulary but improving their communicating skills as well. Socialising with their dolls or playing house with others (could be you, siblings, cousins, friends), they become aware of how to talk to others and cooperate in the right way.
Boosting Imagination
As a parent, you might try and suggest how your child should play with the dolls but if you want them to reap all the benefits that have to do with fun and imagination, it’s best to forget about rules and let them take over. If you’d like to join them and share the playtime with your children, play along the story they tell you.
You’d be surprised to see just how creative they become when they come up with all the ideas of the dolls’ professions, relations, families, and activities. The possibilities are truly endless!
Boosting Independence
When children are small and vulnerable, it’s our mission to take care of them and protect them but part of our mission should be teaching them how to be independent too. This is what the playtime with dolls can provide because when they see what it takes to take care of someone else, they learn how to not be so dependent on us.
It’s especially true if they play on their own, as they become aware of how to feel comfortable when we’re not around. I don’t have to mention this is of huge help for a parent who has a great deal of things to do around the house!
