How does your Child play with his/her Waldorf Doll?

[racheleuphoria]

I am giving my four year old her first Waldorf doll tomorrow. It is a little redhead girl that looks like a sweet friend. But it made me wonder how to encourage her to play with this doll. In the past, our dolls have always been babies. This is a girl, a friend. Would it make sense to encourage her to put her in a cradle, carry in a baby carrier, wrap, etc? It seems to me that she'd relate better if she slept with the doll and sat with her on a swing, etc. So, how do your children play with their "friend"-shaped Waldorf dolls?

[KJoslyn78]

mine "tag along" with their mommies it seems. My girls both have more "girl" dolls... where my son has a very baby looking doll (though with the new clothes - less babyish).

Just tonight my 10 yr old took her to her Girl Scout meeting (where both her leaders were awe struck! lol). My 5 yr old is constantly trying ot take hers to school so she can learn too (but toys are NOT allow - its a school wide rule - yeah - its a typical public school).

I havent had to give many suggestions - other then the "kids" would like to be put into their beds at night and not left on the floor!

[operamommy]

I'll be watching this thread with interest. I made my ds2 a dressable Waldorf doll for Christmas, and he seems to have a love/hate relationship with it. He sleeps every night with the Little Baby that I made him the year before, but so far "Jackie" isn't even allowed to sleep in his room. He *does* seem to enjoy playing with it a bit, but he barely ever picks Jackie up on his own. If I put Jackie in the high chair then he'll feed him and spend time putting him to bed, taking him to the hospital (?!), etc. but he doesn't seem very drawn to him.

[redfoxmama]

My ds is very strange with his. He will play a bit with him, and becomes bothered if something is done with "Keenan" (which is ds' name and the dolls name) that is not done with the real boy Keenan. Like put him in a basket to sleep, the real Keenan still co-sleeps. It seems as if ds reenacts his life with his doll.

[fadedgirl]

I've never been comfortable encouraging certain actions or otherwise imposing my ideas in my daughter's creative play (unless invited to be a participant, in which case I remain passive & follow orders!).

My daughter didn't really take to her waldorf doll, which she was given at age 3.5. She just wasn't playing much with dolls of that size in general. She preferred her stuffed animals or dinosaurs. Not that she would have given the doll away, but there were definitely periods where I could have removed it from her room and I doubt she would have noticed.

She started playing a lot more with with her waldorf doll around the age of 5, and this entails playing with the hair, dressing and undressing, etc. She doesn't treat it like its an infant, but a little girl and sometimes its a princess. She likes to bring it with us in the car, and she places it around the house throughout the day, but I'd still have to say that she prefers dollhouse figurines or her little stuffed animals for most play. I was kind of concerned about her lack of interest in it at first!!

[Hannahsmummy]

Originally Posted by fadedgirl

My daughter didn't really take to her waldorf doll, which she was given at age 3.5. She just wasn't playing much with dolls of that size in general. She preferred her stuffed animals or dinosaurs. Not that she would have given the doll away, but there were definitely periods where I could have removed it from her room and I doubt she would have noticed.

She started playing a lot more with with her waldorf doll around the age of 5, and this entails playing with the hair, dressing and undressing, etc. She doesn't treat it like its an infant, but a little girl and sometimes its a princess. She likes to bring it with us in the car, and she places it around the house throughout the day, but I'd still have to say that she prefers dollhouse figurines or her little stuffed animals for most play. I was kind of concerned about her lack of interest in it at first!!

This is my daughter too although she's 5 and a half and still never plays with hers. She has taken her off of the dresser where she sits about 3 times since getting her and she's always become a character in whatever scenario she's playing. Oftentimes it's just as an extra like a guest at a birthday party or something.

[RollerCoasterMama]

Mine has just started really playing with his buddy Charlie. He does things for Charlie that people do for him...put to bed, change diapers, feed him. He likes to feel a little control in his world, and taking care of Charlie gives him some power. For tag-along/sleeping with, he still seems to like his little velour doll best.

If you feel indulgent, I put some videos of him playing with Charlie on Youtube for the relatives to see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHN81kmsLKU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy_2SwBOWus

[racheleuphoria]

My daughter seems to realize naturally that her new Waldorf doll is a "friend" rather than a baby. She is sleeping with her and toting her around while she plays. I am going to try to resist suggesting types of plays and let her develop her relationship with the doll more naturally. That's hard for me! Here is a link to my blog post about the doll. The picture is adorable: http://euphoriamaternity.wordpress.com/.

[BCFD]

The only Waldorf doll that I got for my dd was one like this: http://www.keptin-jr.com/product_inf...df19475c66e783

Unfortunately, she never even picked it up. My other 2 dd's have never shown any interest in it either. I think I paid $25 or $30 from a local Waldorf store.

However, I made one almost exactly like it using red jersey material and wool stuffing and dd1 who is now 4 has really latched on to it in the last few months. She even took it to school (Montessori) for sharing day. She basically just drags it around with her everywhere and sleeps with it. Sometimes she makes the doll dance or talk to some of her other stuffed animals, but that's about it.

ETA: I actually put a little nose and eyes on the one I made with thread. Maybe that had something to do with her interest level? She is also extremely proud of the fact that her Mommy made it just for her (and was sure to tell her class that, too! Awww..)

[notwonamesalike]

Originally Posted by racheleuphoria

My daughter seems to realize naturally that her new Waldorf doll is a "friend" rather than a baby. She is sleeping with her and toting her around while she plays. I am going to try to resist suggesting types of plays and let her develop her relationship with the doll more naturally. That's hard for me! Here is a link to my blog post about the doll. The picture is adorable: http://euphoriamaternity.wordpress.com/.

Is that a Bamboletta doll?

[racheleuphoria]

Nope, not Bamboletta, but very close! The maker is Amy of BabyRobots (on Etsy). She was great to work with. She had some different techiniques that Bamboletta, but I am very pleased (and it's hard to go with someone else once you see Bamboletta!).

[zansmama]

Ds (5 1/2) sleeps with "Zebra" and occasionally dresses or plays with him or wants to take him for outings. He does seem to treat Zebra differently from his stuffed animals, and is very proud that I made him... but there are many weeks where all he does is sleep with him and doesn't play with him at all.
Interestingly, he didn't really play with Zebra until he was 5yo, although he had him for a year before that.