Doll Clothes & Accessories in Dolls & Dollhouses

Choosing doll clothes and accessories

The child developmental benefits of doll play whether it's a baby doll or fashion doll include life skills that your child won't learn from screen time. Many times you can use a baby doll to help your child role play what it'll be like to have a new sibling arrive in the home. But there are many additional skills that kids learn from the world they can create with their dolls, even if they're not expecting a new sister or brother:

• Nurturing, compassion and caring skills are practiced during doll play when your child imitates the way adults care for babies. Doll play helps children to work out problems in their lives. In addition, many fashion dolls with pets teach your child about caring for animals.
• Cognitive skills are acquired when your child plays with dolls and learns vocabulary and communication skills, especially during role playing.
• Self-help skills come with bathing, feeding and dressing dolls. Don't forget about using a baby doll to help your child during the potty-training stage. If your child wants to teach a baby doll how to go potty, that type of role playing can help your child learn patience and reinforce the appropriate skills.
• Fine motor skills develop as your child dresses and undresses a doll. With baby dolls, your child will practice using zippers and buttons. With fashion dolls, the clothing is smaller, so greater dexterity is required to put shoes or a coat on, for example.
• Tolerance skills develop if a child plays with dolls of all genders and races.
• Creativity and imagination skills learned through doll play are limitless. Through creating an environment, your child learns to navigate a world he or she creates using clothing, shelter and furniture. The lifestyle choices your child make for a doll can be enlightening for adults to observe, too.

In addition to all your child can learn through doll play, many parents may wonder about age appropriateness. Here are some guidelines about doll play and age to make your selection easier:

• 0 to 2 years: Choose soft, washable and colorful dolls that have a happy smile.
• 2 to 5 years: Choose more realistic dolls that may talk. Kids this age tend to start choosing how to create a doll's world, and you'll see kids feeding pretend food to baby dolls at this stage.
• 6 to 8 years: Fashion dolls from the smaller teen dolls to the 18-inch-high versions become more popular for this age group, but baby dolls are still comforting for a child.

Doll clothing and accessories

• Baby doll clothing and accessories include nearly life-size baby clothing that your child may find familiar. Baby doll accessories even include some lace-up shoes and sneakers that tie, which helps kids learn this basic skill for real world application.
• Fashion doll clothing and accessories for teen-styled dolls and dolls up to 18 inches high help a child to identify what looks appealing, from trendy casual clothing to classic ball gowns complete with opera gloves. Accessories for teen dolls and dolls up to 18 inches high help your child focus in on the details of how a doll appears to others. Fabrics and detailed trims are designed and constructed to last for years of play.

Doll furniture

• Baby doll furniture creates a nearly realistic environment for a doll. Your child will learn how to use a car seat, high chair, stroller and all the accessories needed to care for a baby or toddler in reduced sized versions made with washable, durable plastic.
• Dollhouse furniture is smaller than baby doll furniture and it can greatly expand your child's imagination. Because most fashion dolls appear older, there are more furniture and lifestyle options from which to choose. Tiny versions of furniture and decor for every room in a house will teach your child decorating skills and spatial understanding. Your child can even learn about various lifestyles and life phases using doll furniture. Kids can learn early about college dorm rooms thanks to dorm furniture provided by some doll manufacturers. Fashion doll furniture includes wardrobes that open up to store pairs of shoes and clothing to help teach your child the art of organizing, which will be beneficial throughout life.