Dolls or Cars

” Girls with dolls. Boys play with cars.”

Does this happen spontaneously or do we sort of steer children towards the expected “boy games” for boys and “girl games for girls?

There is no clear-cut answer for this.

It would be quite interesting to hear from others.

I myself was quite surprised when we noticed how our first grandson, at a very young age of just over one, began showing interest in wheels. The wheels of a stroller, of a car, of anything with wheels. He also had fluffy toys like Whinny the Poo, whom he loved. But, his interest in “wheels” prevailed.  His “Bimbas” fascinated him and he would lay down on the floor to “examine” the undercarriage. When he received his first toy vehicles, some of them quite large, he would examine them thoroughly. No one told him that “boys liked cars”. It just happened.

Then came along a little granddaughter. She showed interest in the beginning, for a very brief spell, in the cars. Well, because they were big brother things. Her interest very quickly went to stuffed toys and dolls. Now at the age of nearly two she is into dolls, doll strollers and kitchen toys.

The kitchen toy thing is interesting. She doesn’t show any interest in actual cooking. Yet, her only a year older brother is sometimes fascinated by the cooking process. Loves to watch and see you making for example an omelet. Now he has a new thing, helps cook bread on a Friday afternoon. He makes little rolls out of doe that his grandma gives him. Tasty too.

No one taught or pushed them in any direction, yet they chose their lickings.

Cars for boys and dolls for girls.