Is playing with dolls or cars down to nature or nurture? Expert opinion on gendered play

The first question typically asked of parents enrolling their child in a crèche or nursery school is: boy or girl? Does it really matter? It certainly does at first glance when you watch the children play.

Girls are often huddled together playing “family” or jumping around, dancing and talking with each other. Boys, on the other hand, tend to busy themselves with building blocks or race around the yard on balance bikes.

How much of that is innate, and how much is acquired via societal norms? In science, this is known as the nature versus nurture debate.

“Gender differences in toy choice exist and appear to be the product of both innate and social forces,” concluded a 2017 British meta-analysis of 16 observational studies – from various years – of the free selection of toys by boys and girls aged one-8 years.

Gender differences often increase in the first years of life largely because of gender-based marketing. Photo: Shutterstock

Writing in the journal Infant and Child Development, the researchers said they found that boys played with male-typed toys, such as vehicles, more than girls did, and girls played with female-typed toys, such as dolls, more than did boys. Hormonal differences may play a role, they said.

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