To think 8 is not ‘too old’ for Barbies

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Dd was 8 in the summer and still loves Barbies. She tends to go through phases playing with them non stop then not for a while.

she said a couple of her friends still play with them but most not (so they say) as they are ‘too old’

but it’s normal to play with them at 8, right? I mean I will encourage her to play until she doesn’t want to herself. I played with them until I was about 12!!

she gets worried her friends will laugh

I have also had a sarky comment off a relative. They asked what dd would like for Christmas, I sent s couple ideas including Barbie and get a reply saying ‘she’s still playing with Barbies’

surely 8 is perfectly normal to still be playing with them if they want to?

Perfectly normal

Perfectly normal. I have no idea why some people rush children to grow up.

I still played with them till I was 11/12 too, she’s a little girl of course she still plays with dolls I’d be worried about girls making fun of that! How can 8 be too old, kids are growing up too fast?! Let her play with them and enjoy, mine were my imaginary and happy world

If she wants to play with them I'd let her play with them.
My daughter is 8 in February and still likes TY toys and has loads of them, what's the harm?

Mine only play on their Nintendo switches these days but that's their choice.

Not at all! I played with mine regularly till I started high school. And then only occasionally, secretly, in the bath until I was about 16.

Dd loves TY toys too 💗

Thanks all. I’m happy as long as she is but she worried about what her friends would say. She also has some degree of SEN so works hard to fit in and mask her true self 😢

Not to old at all - mine loved playing with a lot of toys that others thought they too old for - dolls, playmobil, sylvanians etc.
I honestly find it really sad when people say that their children have grown out of toys at 7 or 8. Play is such a valuable thing at all ages.

My 8 year old sounds very similar to your daughter. We're on the pathway waiting list for ASD assessment and because of these differing social needs I find it hard to figure out whether she's the same as her peers or not.

She plays with Barbie, LOL and dolls and I hope she does for a while longer. She also loves watching YouTube and lounging around on her iPad.

My 12yo still sometimes joins her 10yo sister at the barbie house in the conservatory. Friends play too!

My daughter is 8 and still absolutely loves her barbies

@uhtredsonofuhtred1 hi there, yes totally get that. My eldest, pre teen boy is autistic and dd has SEN but I’m finding it hard to get anyone to take me seriously and get her on a waiting list for a diagnosis - she’s high masking. She desperately wants to fit in with her friends but sadly I think her friends are noticing the gap between them and her more now which is causing issues - that’s for another thread.

dd is also a YouTube addict 😂😂 she has a few LOL dolls but prefers Barbie. She is also obsessed with stitch!

Normal. I think people push their DC to stop playing with toys because it means less to tidy.

Definitely normal. Ugh. Find it so depressing when children want designer clothes or whatever when they're not even teenage yet!

Well my daughter is about to turn 8…. What she wants is a baby Annabelle!! Dolls of all varieties are perfectly normal for 8 year olds. They’re still little kids. There’s so much ‘tween’ nonsense, I had never heard of ‘tween’ until the past decade ish, that is apparently 8-12! It seems more and more that tween& teen are being grouped together, and expected to have the same interests. 11/12 year olds, sure transitioning teens…. But 8-10/11? Nah.

Some little girls of 8 are apparently into makeup, tech, clothes (& I don’t mean things they find pretty, light up shoes etc, but branded stuff like Nike that besides the logo is fairly run-of-the-mill and not exciting looking). That is not developmentally appropriate, dolls are.

I was just thinking about this today actually. My 7 year old has been playing with her (baby) dolls today (Baby Born etc) and I wondered of any of her friends still were - I somehow doubt it from what I know of them. She also plays with her toy kitchen and makes tea parties in her room, etc. I was thinking about how a parent was talking about theirs making up dance routines to pop songs but mine won't even really know any pop songs outside of Disney songs and much less what a dance routine might look like! I worry she'll end up being bullied, but I also don't want her to grow up too quickly.

Absolutely fine and normal.

DD1 (almost 19) came home from uni last week on reading week and is considering shelving her dolls house.

I'm not doing anything with it until she is absolutely sure though. Hours of fun playing which then turned into crafting to make furniture and props.

People are in to much of a rush to get children to grow up. Then when they do they are remorseful and want their children back.

Absolutely be led by your DD.

My DD 16 bought herself the Barbie advent calendar in Lidl

And she grew out of Barbie in primary school

At that age I was still playing with baby dolls and that’s worse

Eh? I thought 8 would be the perfect age for Barbies!
Incidentally, my friend's DC turned 8 last week and Barbies were the present of choice.

My girls are 7&9 and still getting dolls from Santa this year. They still love them too. There are definitely “older” girls in both there classes that definitely don’t play with dolls but as long as my two are happy then that’s all that matters. Please don’t worry, let them play.

I was still sneaking in to play with my sister's (and mine that had been handed down to her) when I was 15/16 when everyone was out of the house!

My Gdd of 8, no SEN, still plays a lot with both her own Barbies, and the old ex dds’ collection we have at our house.

Loved mine. Still played when I was 11, but got away with as my younger sister also loved them. My daughter loves them. She's 5 - but her 8yrold girl cousins must never know!

My dd only got rid of her barbie dream house and all the barbies at age 11. Let her play for as long as she wants.