Playing with dolls in Year 8

[lpsandmore]

My DD is 12- 13 in April and currently in Y8. She has always loved role play and little toys. She's very creative and excels at art, not so much academics. One of the toys she was absolutely obsessed with when she was younger was LPS. The littlest pet shop toys. She would spend all her money on it etc. Around Y6 she stopped playing with them as the girls all got very grown up and it wasn't very cool. She sold a lot of her LPS and we never really looked back.
She's never really got 'stuck' into all the secondary school pressures and drama as 1st lockdown happened March of y7 when they were just settling down. This has meant she has gradually got back into playing with LPS. By play, I mean completely engrossed in it. They have got very expensive now and she has just spent £100 of her own money on a massive bundle of them, plays role play with them, makes role play videos etc etc. There are tons of youtubers (fully grown adults) who make role play videos etc and she watches them in between zoom lessons. She has some friends who know about this but is generally very very secretive and embarrassed. I regularly check her phone and can see the types of convos her friends are having, none are toy related obv. My question is, is this strange? Does anyone else have a not so little toy obsessed child? Should I be worried?

@XelaM I honestly wouldn't get rid of them for a fair few years yet. My DD was also 11 when she made this sudden switch and I've now found out it was just pressure to conform. If she or her friends have access to TikTok, there is a horrible trend of people laughing at 'horse girls' which could play a part in her sudden switch. Those horses sell for a lot, especially the older kind so you're likely to make your money back once you decide to sell. I regret selling my DDs LPS, they've gained so much in value now as Hasbro has stopped making them.

My dd is younger than yours - 9 - and absolutely loves playing with dolls and other small toys with 7yo dd. Lots of her peers have stopped this kind of play already. She has ASD and was late to develop her play and levels o attention so I'm very happy she plays so well now. It's imaginative and they do lots of role play, sometimes make accessories and write stories to go with it. They spend half a day on doll school the other day! I would welcome any wholesome activities they can get lost in.

@XelaM having just looked at them on the Hamleys website the other day, I'd keep them for a bit if you can, they're expensive++! Even in the sale! If you get rid and she regrets it you'll kick yourself.

I remember the real tug I felt when I knew I was too old to play with my dolls. I was 13 and had to stop... I loved making up stories, and interestingly enough I still do and have pursued a career in drama. So whilst the expression is different the heart passion of creative play is the same.

But.. I would think two things are going on simultaneously.

1. A retreat to something that is safe, and a way to pass the time, in a time when there is no external social people to socialise with.

1. Something for you to investigate. I never had the ‘role models of cos-play’ adults to emulate and as a parent I would be inclined to drop in and just see what sort of YouTube things she is watching.

I loved horses as well and had posters everywhere- I think teenage mini obsessions are just part of the process of growing up. Everything is a phase!

Me and my mate Morbelle used to play barbies when we were 15 and have turned out pretty normal so I wouldn’t worry x

I think this is absolutely lovely and wish my boys of a similar age were more like this!

I don’t think it’s an issue, I think it’s great she’s found a way to entertain herself like this. Once she’s back at school she might never touch them again.

I do agree that you should just check out the YouTube vids as some innocuous looking vids are not as innocent as they look.

Think of it as a collection, not toys. It's fine. I'd do it if I were interested.

@Ilovelove great point. I do pop in and see what she is watching and she uses my YouTube account so I know what she is subscribed to. Thankfully she isn't really into going on forums etc and I think a lot of the weirdos lurk on there.
@hailtomyteeth were definitely not going to sell them again. She said she wants to keep them for her kids lol.

Ds12 just brought himself a red yoshi plush - he is sleeping with about 20 Mario plish at the moment

This is a lovely thread. At 11 I asked for a farmyard set for my birthday. My parents were a bit but got me one anyway. I spent hours creating a model landscape around it - outhouses, trees, duck pond etc. Like other pps have mentioned I think I was aware my childhood was coming to an end and I wanted to hold on to one last part of it (as well as being quite into architecture and design).

Also I don’t have the farmset anymore but I still have every single soft toy I’ve ever owned and they’re now my DS’s