Paint swimsuits on naked dress-up dolls

Making old toys feel new again -- always a great hack. From Sarah:

Some plastic dress-up dolls I bought for my daughter only came with one outfit, and there are no others available through the manufacturer.  I get tired of seeing naked dolls, so I took some acrylic paint and painted on swimsuits.  When I gave them to my daughter she simply said "look! they have swimsuits on!" and had even more fun with them.

My daughter prefers her dolls naked. Go figure.

Comments

[STL Mom]

What is it with the naked dolls? Half the time my daughter's dolls are naked, and her stuffed animals are wearing the clothes. Her room looks like a mix of the Garden of Eden and Beatrix Potter. I like the swimsuit idea!

[Dan Oblak]

When I was a little boy, my older sister (by four years) used to leave her Barbies laying around the house sans-clothing; and although it didn't 'bother' me necessarily, it just seemed like something should be done about it -- so I fashioned clothes for them out of bits of cloth and sometimes, tinfoil (a la Wilma Deering). No one told me that a naked doll was a bad thing; but I figured, none of us were laying around the house naked, so it was a bit silly for the dolls to be doing it.

Where this crops up later: it always bothered me when children carry their dolls (or stuffed animals) around by the head, hair, toes, etc. ... I expect that those who were careful to support the head (like a baby) and not toss overhand into the nearest pile of toys will become the most careful of parents, eventually.

Chime in on this, anyone?

[LisaS]

If you don't like seeing naked dolls, why get the kid dress up dolls in the first place? Because they're never dressed for more than 30 seconds ....

(and STL Mom ... our house is much the same!)

[James Honnig]

Dan,

Do you also believe that children who never crashed their HotWheels became the most careful drivers?

As it turns out, the vast majority of children have the ability (apparently not shared by you and some other posters on Parent Hacks) to distinguish between reality and play.

I suggest you redirect the time allotted to painting clothes on dolls to something more useful...perhaps you could touch up the peeling lead paint in your home (as you've obviously been eating the chips).

[Parent Hacks Editor]

Hey, James -- can the sarcasm, please. Make your point without stooping to namecalling. Insulting a commenter and then generalizing to the readership at Parent Hacks isn't going to get you lots of respect.

[Eileen]

My daughter prefers her dolls naked, too - and with pen "tattoos".

[Zed]

I think Dan makes an interesting point. While I don't personally think there's a direct correlation between the way one treats dolls at such a young age and the way one treats real children as an adult, I think it is interesting to see whether certain personality tendencies hold when the person ages.

For instance, my brother would holler when his friends would step on ants: "Don't do that! They might be mothers!!" He is still an individual who is very aware --- sometimes even too aware --- of feelings and perspectives on all sides of any given issue.

I think we can teach our kids skills and behaviors, but I agree with Dan that there are some tendencies or sensitivities that just appear on their own and last a lifetime.

[Kendra]

Interesting idea! When we were little, my sister and I were always making our Barbies homemade clothes (buying tons of Barbie clothes was something my mother categorically refused to do; those things are expensive!). And we found that our favorite way of dressing Barbie was with balloons. Clip off the end, and you have a tube dress. Our Barbies had wonderfully colorful--if a little revealing--wardrobes!

(And as the parent of a 16-month-old girl who adores her stuffed animals and carries them around the house by the necks, I hope that's not an indication of her future caretaking abilities!)

[Mama Cas]

i don't think that the way a child carries their doll/bear/whatever (bunny at my house) is any indication of their nurturing capabilities as an adult. except maybe for those who do carry them, however they do, vs. those who don't.

there is nothing wrong with a 16 mo child carrying her animals by the neck. to her, that is the most secure way to carry her 'babies'. so that's what she does. my not-quite-3 yo carries her mariposa barbie by the feat and waves and swings her thru the air as she walks. to her, barbie is flying

they carry them how they do, and i bet every one of them has a reason for why they carry them the way they do.

[ladykay]

Just FYI: When I was a little kid all of my dolls looked like Don King from me carrying them around by the hair. I never once carried my real children that way. :D