Ok, we know the whole gender-related toys issue can be a hot topic. This issue of Wondertime does a nice job of diving into this question in a thoughtful, intelligent way.
Blogging Wondertime Magazine: Why Boys Love Trucks
Is it nature or nurture? One child behavior specialist, Dan Anderson, says most psychologists agree it's about 80% nurture and 20% nature, especially before age six.
But another study found that at just 14 months, children were consistently picking toys stereotypical to their gender when given a choice.
In the end the author leans toward nature, backed by the beliefs of the evolutionary psychology field. Whatever you decide, it's a thought-provoking article that will make you think the next time you see a little boy eyeing the garbage truck with wonder and awe.
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My husband and I are probably as uninterested in all things vehicular as it is possible to be, yet my son's second word was "car" and now, at the age of almost three years, he can identify every vehicle at any kind of work site. He can tell you about wheel-bucket excavators and compact augers and articulated dump trucks. He can tell you the difference between a wheeled bulldozer and a track-type bulldozer, and what each is designed to do. He can talk quite intelligently about why a farmer uses a cultivator in the springtime and a plough in the fall. He can identify, and name the purpose of, a great variety of harvesting machines, from a grain combine to a grape picker to a rice harvester. If you've been wondering about such things, he can also describe the difference between a rescue helicopter, a firefighting helicopter, and a helitanker. And so on. And on. He can talk about all these things and more. And he does. Every day. All day. Lord help us all.
And I just want to attest: there is NO conceivable way he got this passion from either of his nerdy parents. The only way we've contributed is by taking him to the library regularly. Where he automatically heads straight for the section where they keep the books on heavy equipment.
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I've been amazed by my son's interest in all things planes, trains and automobiles. And construction equipment. And very physical play. All things I previously assumed were society-driven stereotypes seem to be hard-wired into his very being! We also play with dollhouses and have tea parties, but nothing will ever beat trains. My personal experience very much leans towards nature on this one, hard as I find that to believe.
view carrielogic's profile