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Traditionally, doll houses have been the classic toy for a girl to receive, whether it be as a Christmas gift, birthday gift, or a hand-me-down from her mother. But recently there's been a general move away from dollhouses, as regards what our children play with. Is this wise? Dollhouses have many benefits that one wouldn't think of at first. There are different parts of the brain that are stimulated and developed through what goes on in a dollhouse.
First of all, of course, there's the imagination. Immersed within the fantasy of the loving family within the house, the girl is able to create stories and dramas that may or may not seem complex to us, but they are always just the right amount of challenge to her budding mind. This is because within the comfortable confines of her dollhouse, a young girl usually feels safe enough to experiment with new thoughts and ideas, but is not afraid of doing it wrong or messing up in front of anybody; it's rare that she finds this in any other situation in her life at this point.
Another thing that a young girl experiments with within her dollhouse is social interaction. By using the dolls of the house as proxies for people she imagines or knows in her life, she can experiment and try out new ways of talking to and responding to people, and sometimes maybe even bring out some pent-up aggression of frustration that she doesn't feel would be good to express in "real life", and deal with it in the safety of her miniature home. This is very cathartic and lets her hone her interpersonal skills without the fear of embarrassment or ridicule, and again, this is a very rare thing to be able to have at this age.
Lastly, and most importantly, the young girl is practicing the holding of responsibility. This is, after all, her world; it's up to her whether the family has a nice day, or a horrible one. It's up to her whether the children inside get along or fight all the time, and whether the problems that may come up get resolves or go on without solutions. She's in charge of what happens, and in that taking charge, she generates lots of self-esteem and security within herself. That is what true emotional development is all about!
So as you can see, dollhouses can form not only a nice part of a girl's childhood, they can be a crucial ingredient in her overall mental well-being and development as a person. We should all definitely consider going back to those times when every girl had one.
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