If you are the parent of a young girl child we are sure that the overall well-being of her is a top priority for you. Mental health plays a key role in the overall well being of your child. So we are sure that you always look forward to keeping her in the best of health both physically and well as mentally.
COVID19 taking its toll on the mental health of children
These are challenging times for all. The outbreak of the COVID 19 Corona Virus pandemic has been a great health hazard, and even now many are falling prey to this deadly virus. Social distancing has been the new norm, which has meant that everyone including children too is completely restricted to their homes. So online schooling has become a part of their everyday lives. They are unable to go out for playing meet their friends physically and thus all of these are combining to make a major impact on the mental health of children. So these are times when you should be extra careful about their mental health along with their physical health.
The research was undertaken to explore how doll playing impacts young children
A lot of research too has been undertaken regarding the mental health of young children. It is in line with this that a recent study was undertaken by a team of researchers at Cardiff University, to explore what impact doll playing impacts young children. Doll playing as you would know has been a very old tradition which is very popular amongst children which most simply love. The research team undertook an 18-month study to monitor the brain activity of 33 students who were in the age group of 4 to 8 years.
What the research study concluded?
In the research study, it was found out that doll play activates parts of the brain which enable children to develop empathy along with social information processing skills. This happened even when they were playing alone. Not only this the study also concluded that there was far less activation of the brain when they were engaged in playing with tablet computers on their own. According to the senior researchers involved in the study, this is a completely new finding. They believe the fact that doll playing the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is getting activated indicates that doll playing is aiding in rehearsing some of the social skills that they would require in the latter part of their lives and thus extremely helpful for them.
Social skills get developed
Doll playing amongst girl children has been something that many have been engaged in since early times. Experts in the field feel that dolls encourage them to create their own imaginary words as opposed to problem-solving or building games. Doll playing encourages young children engaged in them to think about other people and this in turn enables them to develop empathy for those around them. The research study focused on both the aspects of children playing with dolls with others as well as playing alone on their own. The dolls used for this study belonged to a diverse range which included everything from Barbies and sets. In either case where the children played with others and alone with dolls were the same. It equally activated the brains in both categories of children.
Children playing Tablet games had far less brain activation
On the other hand in the case of the children who were engaged in playing with tablet games on their own, this brain activation was far less. This is despite the fact that these games involved a lot of creative elements.
Thus as per the study today in a society where people have become so busy and life has become so fast the need for social skills is of paramount importance. Thus in case you have a girl child who falls in that category, it is imperative for you as a parent to encourage her to play with dolls. It is what would enable her to develop empathy for others and also social skills.
We at Moner Alo, not only have some of the best Psychiatrists in Kolkata and also offer one of the best psychiatrists treatment in Kolkata but at the same time always strive to bring useful information in the field to keep you up to date always.