VBCaroline Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Since I just posted a question about boys and Playmobil, thought I'd throw this one out there, too. My almost 12 yo dd still plays with her AG dolls, stuffed animals, and dollhouse almost every day. It seems like many of our acquaintances who are the same age have outgrown this kind of play. Are my kids immature, or what? Caroline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 My daughter will be 11 in October. She plays Only Hearts Dolls or American Girl dolls every day. I thinks she is asking for another American Girl doll for her birthday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 My dd (9) was never really a doll and dollhouse girl. However, she will play dolls with her girlfriends and you better not mess with her incredibly large collection of stuffed animals. She loves those stuffed toys. I remember my niece at age 12. She would still play with her dolls but not when any of her friends were around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Depends on who she's around. She's 12, almost 13, and has one friend her age that still plays with toys with her. The rest of them don't really. She does play with her sisters a lot, and still likes her dolls and such....when it's not embarrassing ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcjlkplus3 Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 My girls are too young for this question, but... I have a 12 year old cousin who loves playing dolls still. So does her 13 year old BF (while the cousin was visiting I gave both girls a sewing lesson making clothes for their AG dolls). While they were visiting us, her and another 12 year old friend were playing with the dollhouses in the playroom. I don't think any adult would think of her as immature at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 The oldest will hang onto "younger" toys longer, since there is no one older to imitate. My oldest could still be found playing with her dolls, especially with her younger sister, as late as last year (she was 14). She didn't play in the same way as she did as a little girl, but when her sister's friends were over and they were all playing dolls, she would change her AG's outfit, or fix her hair. My now 11 year old dd does not play with her dolls as much, but will occasionally play with them. She does still play with her Playmobil castle (which is like a doll house). Kids seem to swing back and forth, one day trying to be more mature, others days hanging onto being a child (which they still are!). I think it's healthy and a shame that most younger girls don't seem to do that, but are all ready acting like older teens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 My 12 yo DD loves to play with her dolls and other toys. Her play is wonderfully creative! She has the rest of her live to "grow up" but only a short window of time to play with dolls and such. They'll be a time when she won't enjoy these games but for now I'm thrilled she does. Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda in TX Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 She's not ready to give them up, either. She never played with dolls, but she loved Littlest Pet Shop and has tons of it. I've asked her if she wants to pack them away, but so far the answer is "no". :) She's not quite ready to let go of her childhood yet, and I'm good with that. Your DD will let go of it when she's ready. Don't push it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Yes. My girls are just turned 13 and 11, and they still play with dolls and dollhouses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 My daughter will be 13 in November and still has a room and bed full of stuffed animals. She actually bought a new stuffed animal to take to camp. She no longer plays with her American Girl Dolls. Her dollhouse is now an expensive one where you get to paint it, wallpaper the walls, put in new floors and generally spend thousands of dollars on. I miss the plastic Barbie dollhouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VBCaroline Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 Glad to hear there are others out there like my dd. I am happy that she's not growing up too fast. Hate to say it, but the dollhouse that you wallpaper and paint and pour hundreds of dollars into sounds like it would be right up her alley. She does some of that now with her basic wooden dollhouse. Thanks for all your replies. Caroline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 When one of my dds was about 13, my dh complained to me about all of the plastic horses and so forth that she had strewn about her room. I asked him if he was ready for her to trade them in for boys, teen magazines, make-up, etc. He asked if she needed any more horses!! :lol: And she did eventually grow out of that stage, go to college and has become a very mature young woman. Although, she still loves stuffed animals! :) Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 My girls are not doll people. But they love their Playmobil and Breyer horses. My oldest child has been seen helping to 'set up' the stuff. My 17 yr old dd 'helps' her little sister 'organize' the animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Well, I was 14 when I BOUGHT my first American Girl doll. :D Prior to that I was too much of a tomboy--my parents wouldn't buy me one because they said I would rarely play with it, and they were right! I had one stuffed bear that I dressed up sometimes, though. When I was able to save up my own money, I bought my doll and yes, I played with it. Since my teachers and adults in my church always found me to be the most mature teen they knew, I don't think playing with dolls indicates undesirable social immaturity. Yes, I was "immature" when it came to "typical teen" behavior I saw around me (backtalk, dating, being boy crazy, etc.) but this was intentional. I didn't have trouble making/keeping good friends. 95% of the kids at my church are homeschooled and I know that all of the 8-14 year old girls have American Girl dolls that they play with. I think it's great that they have an innocent pastime that uses imagination! Too many teens lose their ability to imagine anything except how they will get the latest electronic gadget or a boyfriend/girlfriend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I played with dolls until I was 13. I had one particular friend who I played with. Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmulcahy Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I am glad to hear that older girls are still playing like girls should play. I constantly see the temptation of trying to act older than they really are. I have heard parents of 8 year olds say that their children consider those things too immature for them. That is sad. Every child is different and their likes and dislikes will vary but I hate to see them try to be so grown up at such young ages. My girls are 7 and 8 and I hope that they have lots of "immature" play ahead of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 my dd is almost 12 and a half and she is just NOW getting into dolls. I got her the Kathleen Mackenzie Life of Faith doll for Christmas last year and since then she's gotten into them. She's had Bratz and Barbies in the past and never gave them the time of day, but now she is starting to play with them and she just bought herself a doll from Japan from an Anime show they had over there. She wants to buy the whole collection! :eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 One of my daughter's friends will be 16 in Nov and she still plays Barbies A LOT. I was with her mom Friday. We went to a garage sale and picked P up 5 or 6 Barbies. Well, and my own mother was almost 50 when she started a doll collection. So.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhM Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Depends on who she's around. She's 12, almost 13, and has one friend her age that still plays with toys with her. The rest of them don't really. She does play with her sisters a lot, and still likes her dolls and such....when it's not embarrassing ;) Same here - mine is 11, almost 12. She has certain friends who still enthusiastically play dolls, or "pretend" in some or other fashion. I think of them as being "undercover" play-ers, since there are other friends that they wouldn't dream of doing that with. ;) She's my youngest - the older one never did play with dolls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Mine dresses and adores her stuffed Boyds Bear cat, even has a diaper bag with changes of clothes for it that she keeps in the car. Nope, not too old here. And her play stove in her play house? Well that had to stay, lol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Yep. Dd12 has Barbies, Littlest Pet Shop, Polly Pocket, Webkinz, & other types of dolls/stuffies and enjoys playing with them still. She won a Karito Kids doll recently and was *so excited* to get it in the mail! :D She also plays with lego & other construction stuff - lego is THE thing of the moment with her... Let them be kids ~ they've got plenty enough years ahead of them to be grownups. (and for that matter, I own a Cabbage Patch Kid ~ they had some 'anniversary editions' at Walmart a few weeks ago and I spotted one that reminded me so much of the ones I had as a kid, in both design & clothing... I just *had* to bring her home with me! Several stuffies have also been adopted, including a silly amount of Webkinz. Shhhhhh. ;) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Since I just posted a question about boys and Playmobil, thought I'd throw this one out there, too. My almost 12 yo dd still plays with her AG dolls, stuffed animals, and dollhouse almost every day. It seems like many of our acquaintances who are the same age have outgrown this kind of play. Are my kids immature, or what? I have 11yo twins - they both like to play with this stuff still. One doesn't play with her AG type dolls as much, but still loves to play with Playmobil and our dollhouse (it's an "older" dollhouse, not a toddler one). The stuffed animals are still a big hit too. My best friend's dd will be 13 next month, and goes to ps no less, and loves her dolls even more than my kids do. You get to be an adult your whole life, but you only get to be a kid once. There's no rush! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberry Queen Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 my dd's like their older cousin who is 16 because she still plays dolls with them. My other niece who is 13 plays all the time with her 6yo sister. They share a room and play playmobil, stuffies, and dolls.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMCassandra Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 My DD is 12, almost 13, and she does still play with her dolls and dollhouse. But the play is more sophisticated--putting together outfits on the dolls and developing elaborate hairstyles, "decorating" the dollhouse, etc. We have a wooden "Plan Toys" dollhouse, and she has a decorator's pak for it with curtains, wallpaper, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Yep. Dd12 has Barbies, Littlest Pet Shop, Polly Pocket, Webkinz, & other types of dolls/stuffies and enjoys playing with them still. She won a Karito Kids doll recently and was *so excited* to get it in the mail! :D She also plays with lego & other construction stuff - lego is THE thing of the moment with her... Let them be kids ~ they've got plenty enough years ahead of them to be grownups. (and for that matter, I own a Cabbage Patch Kid ~ they had some 'anniversary editions' at Walmart a few weeks ago and I spotted one that reminded me so much of the ones I had as a kid, in both design & clothing... I just *had* to bring her home with me! Several stuffies have also been adopted, including a silly amount of Webkinz. Shhhhhh. ;) ) LOL You won't catch me telling.:) I confess to seeing this little guy on a clearance shelf in Target and I had to bring him home with me. :) He sings even! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reya Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 I wrote a good chunk of my first novel while I was still building and playing with my doll house. I probably didn't completely quit playing with dolls until I was 13. And I was so mature for my age as a kid in all other ways that I freaked adults out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenS Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Well, I still do. :) And did. My dollhouse is in storage at the moment, waiting for my daughter's 6th birthday. (It was built and decorated for my 6th birthday by my mom and dad.) I am kind of nervous about handing down something so precious to me.... I might just have to get her a different one and we can have a neighborhood. LOL. I didn't get an AG doll till I was a married woman ... dh had this thing about trying to make my old dreams come true. It was so sweet! And the kids and I play with her, and the one I found at a yard sale, pretty often. But it's definitely Mommy's toy. When I was twelve, I definitely played with my dollhouse, not so much with other dolls though I kept many, and I wrote a lot. I still liked 'young' things but was going miniature with it, I guess ... easier to hide. :) I laughed like crazy in college when it suddenly became cool again for kids my age to collect Happy Meal toys and the like ... they'd missed out on all those fun years trying to be 'cool' and mainstream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 my dd is almost 12 and a half and she is just NOW getting into dolls. I got her the Kathleen Mackenzie Life of Faith doll for Christmas last year and since then she's gotten into them. She's had Bratz and Barbies in the past and never gave them the time of day, but now she is starting to play with them and she just bought herself a doll from Japan from an Anime show they had over there. She wants to buy the whole collection! :eek: Has she seen the Juku Couture dolls? Target has by far the best price on them $9.99 for dolls and outfit packs, $5.99 or so for accessory packs. They are based on the kinds of layered, mixable outfits that some teens in the Harajuku area of Tokyo wear. Funky, but not overly sexualized like I see with so many of the dolls. The body shape is that of a young teen and the dolls are highly poseable with set-in eyes rather than painted on ones. The clothes are fun and not revealing/what I consider inappropriate. http://www.jukucouture.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Has she seen the Juku Couture dolls? Target has by far the best price on them $9.99 for dolls and outfit packs, $5.99 or so for accessory packs. They are based on the kinds of layered, mixable outfits that some teens in the Harajuku area of Tokyo wear. Funky, but not overly sexualized like I see with so many of the dolls. The body shape is that of a young teen and the dolls are highly poseable with set-in eyes rather than painted on ones. The clothes are fun and not revealing/what I consider inappropriate. http://www.jukucouture.com/ Thanks. :) I'll let her know. :) The ones that she wants to get now are Tokyo Mew Mew. She got the pudding doll and wants to get lettuce next. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Yes, she does with friends mostly. But I do see her arranging and re-arranging her dollhouse now and then too. She has a doll collection that includes a My Twinn doll, which has been pretty fun for her since she got it in May for her birthday. I see the dolls coming out less frequently though now, and it does make me feel a bit sad. I'm not ready for her to grow out of them yet. ;) Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texascamps Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 My dd is 11 and for her birthday, all she wants a a bed from the American Girl catalog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 My dd is 11 and for her birthday, all she wants a a bed from the American Girl catalog. God help you!! My dd showed me that catalogue and I almost choked at the prices of the accessories. :eek: :svengo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfatherslily Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 I bought my first American Girl when I was 11:) Now I have 4! I played Barbies until I was 16 and dolls until I was... well, I suppose it started fading out before I got married at 19. After that, I just continued my doll-picture taking hobby until I had children and couldn't manage it anymore! (you can see my pics at geocities.com/girlsatheart). So maybe I was weird:) But I loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 She has a couple of years or so to play! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Lynn Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I think my dd is probably the one that is unusual, after reading all those replies. She never played with dolls or Playmobile unless she was at someone else's house. She was born with a book in one hand and a drawing tool in the other. She also loved the computer and her HTML book at that age or younger. I did get her a doll or two, but she just wasn't interested. I never really played with dolls either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineFarmMom Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 (edited) . Edited August 30, 2009 by Texas T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Here is a photo of dd and her My Twinn doll, Alice, hard at work in the classroom. When I posted it on Facebook, a friend asked me if we had recently taken in a foster child. I told her to look a bit closer at the picture. LOL! :lol: (BTW, our whole family pooled together funds to buy this doll for dd's birthday! Otherwise, it would not be possible to give her. We have also found very nice clothes on eBay for a good price since the catalogue prices are so spendy.) Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texascamps Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 God help you!! My dd showed me that catalogue and I almost choked at the prices of the accessories. :eek: :svengo: I died laughing at your emoticons!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texascamps Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 God help you!! My dd showed me that catalogue and I almost choked at the prices of the accessories. :eek: :svengo: Wait, here's my secret....I buy things on clearance at the AG store. I buy two of the items. Then at Christmas, I ebay one of them and it usally pays for the other item. Like for instance, I bought a two doll outfits for $20 on clearance, then, at Christmas I sold one of them for $45. Plus, AG stuff doesn't lose value really. There is no resale in Barbie. If we had to, we could resell some of the outfits. Ssssh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenS Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I just recalled a friend of mine ... when she was 12, she redid her Barbies and Barbie dollhouse to be the cast and setting of A Wrinkle In Time. I had the pleasure of sitting for her all that summer, and we had so much fun together. She was a bright creative kid who loved her dolls and Barbies as much as books and challenging discussions. Way cool. I haven't seen her since she got married a couple years ago, but I bet she's gonna be a great mom some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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