Almost every child loves playing with dolls. It offers them an opportunity to practice nurture, empathy and logical thinking. Research confirms that doll play offers several benefits for children, which they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives. 

Today, we’ll explore the benefits of doll play for child development and how you can encourage open-ended play. 

Doll play practices empathy and compassion

When a child picks up a doll and begins caring for it, they step into a new perspective, seeing things through different eyes. The doll is hungry, tired, sad, and scared, and they need to decide what to do about it. 

This is an excellent lesson in empathy and compassion, where they can practice real-world scenarios rather than just be told the information and expected to retain it. 

Research has shown that children who play with dolls show stronger development in social cognition, the ability to understand and predict thoughts, feelings and intentions of others, compared to children who don’t. 

Strengthen language and communication development

Doll play encourages children to use their vocabulary without feeling like they’re learning. They narrate, negotiate and instruct their toys, giving them voices to have complete conversations with one another. 

Without even realising, they’re practising language and communication in its most natural and motivated form. They can: 

• Strengthen vocabulary

• Improve sentence structure

• Develop storytelling

• Learn how to sequence events

• Better understand cause and effect  
  
  

Learn and develop emotional processing

Children who play with dolls often use this time to process experiences that they don’t know how to explain or understand. 

For example, if they’re worried about going to the doctor, their doll might fall ill and need a check-up. Your child, as the doctor, remains in control of the situation and can practice different scenarios that they might face when going to the doctor in the future. 

Doll play is one of the healthiest emotional tools available to young children. They often learn through observing others, so practising scary situations over and over can help their big feelings get smaller. 

Encourage independence and confidence

Caring for a doll gives children a responsibility that is entirely their own. They are the decision maker, caregiver, and the only person who knows exactly what the doll needs. This sense of responsibility builds agency and confidence in a way that no other toy can. 

The child can soothe their doll, dress them and take them on adventures while practising the skills needed to become a caring, capable adult. 

Doll play is for every child

Dolls are often framed as ‘girl toys’, but we disagree. The developmental evidence confirms the benefits of doll play for all children, not just girls. 

A doll often feels like a real companion, who can ease negative emotions of anxiety, fear and loneliness. They can become a close friend, helping to encourage children through imaginative, character-led play. 

Dolls come in all shapes and sizes, so there’s a friend out there for everyone. 

Foster creativity with Dinkum World

Every character from the Dinkum World arrives with a name, a personality, and a backstory. We include these details as an invitation for owners to build upon: your own story that no one else can replicate. 

Touch the rainbow over a Dinkum's heart. Close your eyes. You're already there.

Explore the Dinkum family at dinkumdolls.com