Search Results for: blog stuff for barbie dolls

The Barbie

The day finally arrived. The little girls were all playing on the lawn, one of them with a tub of Barbies that they could almost sit in, another with a fold-out Barbie house. My daughter was playing with them. She came in and declared, “I want a Barbie!” As someone who struggled on the edge of an eating disorder in my teens, I want to foster a good body image in my daughter. Then again, I don’t believe in making certain toys off limits, because I believe that will lead to a child who covets that toy. I had simply … Continue reading →

Barbie is a Movie Star?

We all know Barbie, the better-than-real-life woman made of plastic who can do anything, be anything, and have her makeup perfectly applied the entire time. An inspiration to girls since her invention and possibly the best-selling girls’ toy of all time, Barbie is an American icon that has surpassed the border and gone worldwide. She’s a toy, a game, a coloring book, a clothes label, and now, a movie star. Yes, that’s right – through the miracle of modern technology, Barbie is now a movie star. Computer animators have taken her likeness and transformed her into a walking, talking woman, … Continue reading →

Make Time To Play

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How often do you play with your children? Really get down on the floor and get into their world? I know I did not do it as often as I should have. Being a single mother means time is always at a premium and to be honest, I don’t like playing Barbies. Having said that, it is so important that we play with our children. It shows them they are important to us, we are willing to take the time to do something they love. Another benefit of playing with our children is that they often work out things they … Continue reading →

Pretend Food: Salad Bowl in Summer Charm

My girls love to play kitchen and restaurant. They pretend to have customers and to be “cookers” as my three year old calls it while my six year old corrects her. They have a well stocked inventory filled with anything a doll or teddy bear could want. Who can get enough wooden cookies or stuffed chicken legs? Apparently, a few dollies had enough and wanted a greener fair served to them. Perhaps they were gaining too much stuffing from all the felt sweets and high stuffed foods. So they traded in their plate of wooden cookies for a bowl of … Continue reading →

Toys in Bed

I was talking with a friend, a first-time parent who has a preschooler and she was lamenting about the most recent troublesome development–now that her child is in a “big boy bed”–he is bringing all sorts of his toys into bed with him and falling asleep amidst the big pile. She is concerned it is not only a health and safety concern, but that he is developing bad habits. I hated to seem like that saucy and crusty old mother who couldn’t be fazed, but I have a nearly 18-year-old who STILL likes to have all her books, papers, and … Continue reading →

How TV and Movies Have Infiltrated the World of Toys

There are two items on my 3-year-old’s Christmas list that she would be crushed if Santa did not bring her—-a minivan for her dollhouse and Squawkers McCaw the talking parrot. Interestingly, they are among the only toys in all of Toyland that are not tied to a movie or TV show. (Though, for the amount of times we’ve seen that Squawkers commercial, he might as well have had his own TV show.) If you have children or are shopping for kids this Christmas, you understand what I’m talking about. From action figures to bicycles to books, stuffed animals, Play-Doh and … Continue reading →

How Do My Adopted Kids Think About Skin Color?

My daughters are still too young (seven and four) for me to know exactly how they think of skin color. But I’ve jotted down things they’ve said through the years. For those new to my blogs, my husband and I are white, we have a nine-year-old biological son and two half-sisters from Korea, ages 7 and 4. I assume the girls are fully Korean. We have no birthfather information on the younger one, and she was so much lighter-skinned than her sister that we wondered if she was half-European/American. But overall she now looks much like other Korean children I … Continue reading →

Organize a Child’s Room Without Buying a Thing (4)

Conquering the huge task of organizing a child’s supply of toys, games, books and stuffed animals is overwhelming. So far in this series of articles I’ve discussed ways to sort and store clothing and we’ve begun working on toys. Here are some additional pointers on working with storage for toys. Remember, we are trying to avoid a trip to the store. Learning how to organize frugally is important. Barbies and Other Dolls Most girls at some point in their life have Barbie dolls, baby dolls, Polly Pockets, Bratz and other types of toys. These items can be hard to store, … Continue reading →