Doll play essentials

I love doll play, imaginative and creative. Both are so important. The best way to foster Doll play for your little ones is by providing the opportunity for play and imagination. Turn off the tv, set out a blanket on the floor to define the space, give your child a doll and a few every day items and sit back to see what your child comes up with.

With my niece Thea who is 19 months old, give her a doll, a face cloth and a spoon and she is busy washing the doll, feeding the doll and putting the doll to sleep. She even makes slurping noises with the spoon when she feeds her doll.
My niece Laura who is 4, will use the spoon as a microphone and the facecloth as a piece of clothing.
The possibilities for them are endless. As we get older we loose much of our imagination, I often watch them and think, now why did I not think of that.

Creative play is something I prefer, I love to make doll play items for my nieces and find every day items that I can re-purpose into doll play items. The dollar stores and thrift stores are fantastic for this.

Last February I set up a doll party for my niece Laura and her doll Soccer dolly and all the doll friends. Using a table and chairs I found at the thrift store, doll size cups and dishes from the dollar store, balloons I made from chopsticks, Styrofoam and tissue paper, and party hats made by tracing a side salad plate, cutting it in half thus creating two party hats. Add tape and place on your dolls head.
I also made "doll food" out of polymer clay. Having this pre made and set up meant that Laura could play for hours with her dolls, Okay let's face it, most of the dolls shown are mine but you know what I mean.

Acquiring great doll play items at great prices is easy, if you shop post season sales and take advantage of coupons offered by shops like Micheal's the craft store.
I really wanted a sleigh for my doll and at $30 in November I could not justify the price, though boxing week specials her in Canada meant a 70% savings for me.

The Springfield Doll Collection    offered at most Micheal's stores make wonderful items for doll play and with Micheal's coupons you can stock up on great doll play items to use now or save for holidays or birthdays. I made a advent calendar this year all of doll items and picking up Springfield Doll items to place in each pocket along with handmade items made the advent calendar a success! A wonderful surprise awaited my niece each day. What fun!

Doll play can be planned or spontaneous. Sometimes a little planning goes a long long way, and sometimes the best moments in life are unscripted. You choose and remember to keep calm and play with dolls.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com