Posted on July 9, 2011.
Dolls and what you should know about Imagination plays an important role in growth. Children are fascinated by acting out what it is like to be grown. Toys play a vital role in this process. Almost anything can be a toy. Sticks and stones of old socks, if you can imagine, it can become a toy.
I suppose that the dolls have been around since before written history. Traditionally a toy that the girls have used for centuries, dolls have played a key role in the process of growing-up. To learn to care for a baby to become a leader jet set, the dolls have helped young girls dream for the future.
Like children playing with them, the dolls come in all shapes, colors, ages and sizes. There are Barbie, Ken, Cabbage Patch, My Little Pony, Bratz dolls and American Girl, to name a few. They can be as simple as cut paper dolls and complex and expensive, as detailed porcelain dolls. For boys there, do not forget GI Joe and all these action figures "(Come on guys, admit it, they are really dolls, too!).
As varied as the types of dolls, as are the materials that make them. Early dolls were made of wood and, later, papier-mache. The most beautiful dolls have porcelain heads and hands often with jointed wood bodies. In the early days of the United States many dolls have been made at home. Sew a few clothes together, and you have a new playmate.
Of course, now dolls are not just for children. Doll collecting has become a popular pastime for adults and children. There are many types of collections. Some focus on the ubiquitous Barbie, especially early and now rare editions. Others choose to antique dolls, dolls or a specific period of time. Still focus of other collectors on a single manufacturer, country or style doll. If you do not want to dig and search, there are many special editions or collection of dolls produced today.
No discussion of dolls would be complete without a look at the growing passion for dollhouses and miniatures. It became a hobby to itself. Once again, the materials and types are as varied as the dolls they contain. A doll house can be made by a child of a single cardboard box. Dolls houses are also off to exact scale replicas of the houses with furniture exact scale, and even a complete lighting. Those with limited space may choose to make a shadow box "which meticulously details of a room of a house. It would not surprise me if somewhere some stickler for detail built a doll house with full plumbing work!
So, if Barbie is jet setting around the world, or GI Joe is to save the world if you just want to "play" or build a model to exact scale of the White House, dolls and accessories can take you where your imagination can go. They can make a rainy day pass faster, or allow an overstated adults a creative outlet. Anyway you look at it, dolls are cool.
