Crafts Toys - Is it normal for my 4 yr. old boy to play with girl toys?

Is it normal for my 4 yr. old boy to play with girl toys?

My 4 yr. old loves playing with a huge variety of toys and crafts and things, his most recent is his teddy bear....he calls it his baby, gave it a name, puts a diaper on it, wants clothes, bed and swing for it, covers it up when he's cold, and doesn't want to go anywhere without it, although it's ok to leave it in the car when we get where we're going. He also loves to play like he's cooking. Just wondering if this is normal behavior and if I should get him a kitchen, and things to take care of his "baby" ?

Public Comments

Richard Simmons did. Never hurt him any.
Completely normal. Little Boys and Girls don't distinguish Gender Roles until they are older. Just remember, these gender roles are strictly stereotypes. Boys should be encouraged to play with dolls and girls with cars if they want to. I've have a lovely wonderful prissy almost 8 year old Tomboy girl! I've also had a 2 year old nephew try to breastfeed his Elmo doll while Mommy was breastfeeding his sissy!
what a sweety, yes it is very normal. my son is the same way with his doll. i think it is important for all children to learn to take care of babies and learn how to cook. don't you? i think it' s great when my husband cooks me dinner and offers to change a s**tty diaper. yes please get him a toy kitchen and stuff to take care of his baby.
Since when is taking care of a baby a girls thing? Boys become fathers as well!! Men cook too! These are not girl or boy things these are things that everyone does. Limitations on toys, playing and imagination are ridiculous. Why put stereotypes on a little child. My son has a kitchen and he loves it! He is always cooking up things for Mommy and Daddy!
yes it is normal. at least i hope it is, my 2 1/2 yr old son plays with them and likes pink john deere
this is normal. my oldest son carried around a stuffed pooh bear till he went to school and he's fine. my youngest son likes to play with my friends little girls baby dolls. this is normal it is just a phase.
totally normal - my 6 year old son LOVES Littlest Pet Shop, which is all pink and girly. He always played more with our toy kitchen than with the toy workbench we had too. On the flip side, he turns every toy he has into a gun at some point (lego, baby bottles, remote controls....) And I prefered GI Joe to Barbie when I was a little girl, so there's really no predicting what is going to catch a kids interest! Let him be creative, and if he asks for "girl" toys go for it without labling the toys, or him.
Yes, it is normal. Young children don't yet know the difference between boy/girl toys - to them it is all just something to play with. My 2 year old daughter likes to play with my 10 month old son's cars/trucks, and he likes to play with her kitchen :)
It is completely normal. What is wrong with him wanting to care for a baby? Why should it only be a female role? This is a question I ask other parents who are concerned. (I work in a preschool). My nephew always wanted a babydoll at that age and my sister was always fine with it but my brother in law would get mad and I think its because when you go to the store, all the baby dolls you see are aimed at little girls. It should be great that a boy wants to care for his baby as most women want their husbands to help them with the kids. lol. And lots of kids at that age love to pretend to cook, All the older boys are always cooking. As someone mentioned earlier, they dont distinguish gender roles till later. Well, at this age if they are among other children their age, they will start having gender roles set because they are being influenced by other boys and girls. I have 3 year olds who are so set that pink is just for girls (and most of the time its because they have older sisters or a "machismo" father) and I have many 3 year olds who love pink because its such a bright and strong color. I think that its perfectly normal and that you should encourage his nurturing. Its not a girl toy. =)
There is nothing wrong with it. My daughter plays dolls with the little neighbor boy (she's 7 and he's 3), and my son (3) has a Dora doll house and all the people and stuff... What's the big deal? It doesn't hurt anybody, and I read somewhere that boys that are allowed to play with girl toys instead of only being allowed to play with boy toys grow up more sensitive... Or something like that.
Sounds fairly normal behaviour particularly if he has a hands- on, involved Dad. My son was doing similarly with teddy just as Dad would take care of him and my hubby cooks dinner so I and Jayden loves baking with me. It wouldn't be a problem to get him a kitchen and perhaps you could borrow a dolly pram or other accessories while he is keen to take care of Ted so attentively. All the best. Boys rock!
yes it definitly is my mother runs a daycare and i am the oldest sister of 2 brothers and 3 sisters its perfectly normal.
It's totally normal. Actually it's a good thing. You shouldn't worry about it, give him a couple of old plates and pans to play with if you want. He's controlling the world around him using his imagination. In a few months he'll be playing Batman. Let him play whatever he wants and don't worry about it.
Yes, it's normal. I can totally understand that it might seem weird, because my son is the same way (2 yrs old) and at times I wonder if he should be playing with "boy" things like cars and balls. Any kid is going to imitate their mother or caretaker, and that's good. People should stop worrying about their boys being "macho". It's not only sports that make a man a man... I think that most women would agree that while a physically strong man is attractive, so is a nurturing one. We want boys to grow up to be confident so that they can be good husbands and fathers. Let them be who they are.
Yes it's totally normal. My 4 yr old son loves to play with his older sister's baby's, bottles, kitchen, you name it. He even likes to dress up in her clothes. It's hilarious! They both play house together,cook, and take care of baby. Today as a matter of fact he picked a toy horse with a pink mane and saddle to take with him to my dentist appointment! Definitely don't discourage the behavior.
Totally. My 2 and a half year old already has a toy cooker, washing machine, fridge and sink and he LOVES it. His father once said no its too girly and hes not to play with "girls toys"; but I pointed out that Action Man is still a doll whichever way you look at it he too played with dolls and things as a child himself! It's fine. When I used to work as a nursery school assisstant, I saw every day even the most 'boyish' boys would play with the home corner and the baby dolls. My son too has a doll - it's a baby boy and my grandma knitted it a little blue outfit. my son loves to feed it and cradle it and brush its hair, even takes it to bed with him! So don't worry its just all role-play and it's totally healthy!
perfectly normal. When my second son was 18 months old he found a doll in the city park laying in the water at the edge of the lake. He told me that need a mommy. Of course I drug the baby out of the lake and we took it home and cleaned it up. He took that baby everywhere we went. I think he carried it until he was 4 almost five. He is almost 9 and still has it but keeps it put up most of the time but sometimes he needs test dummy for a trap or a catapult or some other idea that his brother will not go along with and down comes that baby to parchute out of the trees with him. That poor doll probably wishes we had left it in the lake.
That's perfectly normal. Play kitchens are great toys.
absolutely. This is a very good thing and will lead to a very well adjusted little boy. My 3 year old has had a cabbage patch baby since his 2nd birthday, though he mainly likes to undress the poor kid and drag him around by his hair, he has to sleep with a stuffed animal. He turned 2 just before Christmas, so that Christmas my mom had bought him a big stuffed moose the size of a pillow. He gets upset if moose isn;t in the bedroom at bedtime or a couple other close favs, like his ginger bread boy named baby and a teddy bear my sister-in-law gave him before we even left the hospital, his name is blue bear. Gabe has to know where they are at bed time and usually they have to be in his bed. He has a doll stroller that he loves to put baby Nathan in and run around the survey when we go for walks and recently has started feeding Nathan bottles. I am due May 1st with what he believes to be his little sister, though we aren't sure of that yet, I bet if I had newborn diapers here he would be putting them on Nathan as well, I just wish he would keep the kid dressed especially if he is going to lay him down right in front of the window. lol There is nothing wrong with little boys playing with "girls" toys. If I had the space and money I would buy my son one of the kitchen sets, he would love it, but aside from not having the money to get one, he has more than enough toys already. I would get the kitchen set and if it isn't meant to be a surprise, get him to help pick it out, they have pleanty of them in green and brown these days, they aren't just pink anymore, and even if he picks the pink one, don't discourage it, the colour doesn't mean anything to them at this age.
its normal . my son is five and him and my daughter cook in her kitchen(my little Bobby filay) he also loves dora and boots kids dont really care about "gender toys" its society and us as parents that start "labeling" : toys kids just wanna play and have fun.My daughter doesnt like barbies ,but she loves littlest pet shop ,horses and ben ten. so let em play.
All I can do is back up MomuttsMom. She said it better than I could've!