What would happen if two two 19″ dolls were introduced into a first-grade class of 25 children–half of the students boys and half the students girls. Would the boys act negatively? Would they ignore the dolls as a “girl toy”? Would the boys be curious? And of the girls…one doll was black with lots of long curly hair, the other medium skin with straight dirty blond hair. This first grade class is equally mixed of light skin and dark skin children. Which doll would they choose?
Only one of the boys in the class had an alpha male response. Two of the boys asked if the dolls were only for the girls, with several boys looking on to see what I would say. Curiously, the girls all seemed to flock around the medium skin doll and the boys embraced the dark skin, curly hair doll. The girls wanted to brush and style hair. The boys held the 19 inch doll like a baby. Since there were only two dolls and at this point, 20 children, I had to set a timer for each to take turns holding the dolls. The others did not go off and find other things to do, instead they played as a community and waited for their turn. I mentioned to the boys I could bring in similar but action figured boy dolls. The response was boys asking if they could be first to play.
What did the first-grade children teach me? Children do not see color. Children do not assign labels to toys, such as boy vs. girl toys. Children are curious and open minded. They play in ways that model life around them. Every child benefits from play that increases Social Emotional Learning. And, truth is, we all benefit when children understand each other and learn to care.
Via E Learning 