This post is brought to you by American Girl®. All opinions are my own.
I want to teach my daughter about friendship and mindfulness, being kind to others, doing good deeds and being creative! Like any other mom, I want my daughter to grow up with confidence that she can do and be anything. I want to teach her how to become a loving person and I find that creative play is one of the best ways to achieve these goals.
Kids just learn better when they’re having fun. It’s as simple as that! When you combine creative play with a doll that is designed specifically to help kids learn more about friendship, kindness and compassion, you have a win-win situation! That’s exactly what American Girl did with their WellieWishersTM. Who are the WellieWishers and how can they help my daughter learn about compassion? Read on to find out!
Who are the WellieWishers?
By now you must have heard about American Girl. Every little girl wants one! I know because my daughter wanted one as well, which was great because American Girl provided WellieWishers product to me for free for my review. The WellieWishers, which include Willa, Kendall, Ashlyn, Emerson and Camille, are great new companions for your daughter. Their goal is to try to be the best well-wisher they can be. The 5 girls gather and play in a beautiful garden, using their imaginations while learning some of life’s important lessons, like empathy, being a good friend, and the importance of being kind to each other.
Each WellieWisher has her own personality, passions and talents. It is what makes them unique, just like our daughters. Each one has a special way she helps others as well. Whether it is encouraging others to love, care for and respect animals and nature, or knowing just how to throw the best surprise party for a friend, each girl has something special to offer.
Their colorful garden boots (wellies) help them to imagine and play. Stomping around the backyard, playing in the mud and just using their imagination is not an issue in these cool boots! Each one of these girls has the same big, bright wish: to be a good friend. There are so many fun ways to use dolls to teach kids kindness through creative play time. Check out a few of my favorites!
Teaching Kindness & Compassion through Imaginative Play
- Setting up a “what would you do” scenario. Give your daughter a chance to act out different scenarios using her WellieWishers and other dolls. Each WellieWisher has her own characteristics that would play out perfectly in different situations. For example, my daughter’s WellieWisher, Camille, is a secret keeper. While this is a great trait to have in some cases, there are some secrets that do need to be told. Play the role of a friend who tells Camille a secret that should be told (make it age appropriate, please) and help your daughter work through what to do in that situation to help a friend.
- Teach good sportsmanship. It’s hard to be kind and compassionate when you’re disappointed over a loss. Create an imaginative scenario where one of the WellieWishers is sad that she lost a big game or meet. Camille is an excellent swimmer, but maybe, just once, Willa outswam her! What should Camille say to Willa? How can she cheer herself up?
- Learn when to speak up for others. Camille is pretty content to go with the flow. While that makes her fun to be around because she’s up for whatever her friends want to do, like secrets, there are times when you need to go against the flow. With bullying such an important issue in schools today, teaching kids when and how to stand up for others is a major part of instilling a sense of kindness and compassion in them.
Camille has other wonderful traits that work perfect for creative play time. She’s a great listener, which makes her a good friend and confidant. My daughter loves Camille! She has blonde hair just like my daughter and they both love the water.
Being a girl is a very special thing, and having a WellieWisher as a friend to grow up with your daughter makes it even sweeter. The WellieWishers are a fun avenue to teach her the skills I want her to have. Having a best friend and learning about relationships and how to be a good person is something I remember while growing up myself.
Visit the WellieWishers’ page on the American Girl website to learn more about each of the girls, including all their wonderful character traits! While you’re there, make sure you locate the free WellieWishers app! You’ll also find excerpts from a few of the books.
How do you use creative play to teach your kids about kindness? Share in the comments!
We must teach our children about being kinder to others. The Wellie Wisher dolls are adorable. My daughter asked me for one for the holidays.
This is such an awesome post! Very important in our current thing to teach especially in our time. That doll is a great teaching tool! She will not only learn but have fun while doing it!
Silvia
http://www.lovelysilvia.com
One of the very best parts of teaching during creative play, is that values are being instilled that will carry on into adulthood. These are things my daughter will teach her daughter.
Teaching children to be kind is soooo important, especially nowadays. I love the idea of a doll that teaches children to be nice.
Dolls are a perfect educational tool. Not only can you teach your child about kindness but you can teach them other life skills that they need growing up. Plus, they are fun for creative play too.
This is a wonderful idea. That doll is really beautiful too. My oldest would love to have a doll like this. I may just have to get her one for the holidays!
That doll is adorable!! I love all of the American Girls line!!
Great post! I love this doll. I have to purchase it for someone this holiday season. When my son was younger we would teach him about kindness with his action figures.
I have never heard of these before! My daughter loves American Girl, I love that they keep coming out with new dolls.
I love the American Girl series, one of my favorites to recommend at work. The Wellie Wishers are new to me, so I am going to have to look into these as well. Thanks for sharing!
Being kind and being caring is a basic human thing and I love that this keeps that concept in mind. Kids will love playing with this doll and it teaches kids to be nice. That is a win win!
I love this so much! I’ve always tried to teach my daughters the importance of being kind and compassionate. This is a great toy and tool to help with that.
We are huge fans of the Wellie Wishers series. I love the message they give to little girls!
I love this. This world would be so much better if people were more kind to one another.
American Girl dolls are also my daughter’s favorites. I love the new line and it’s nice that they have so much to offer to little girls as well.
These are some great tips! More parents need to focus on this!
My parents always taught me good sportsmanship when I was younger. It truly changed my perception as I aged when dealing with people in general.
I think that this is a big problem in America right now. We all need to be more kind to each other! Love American doll stores!
My daughter’s first doll was an American Girl bitty baby. I’ve been fond of them every since. I love the Well Wishers and those boots are too cute!
My daughters love American Girl dolls. This line of new dolls is a great addition to a great collection. So cute!
I really hope my granddaughter loves the American Girl line-up. Id love to indulge her a bit. She’s 3 now… she’ll be the right age soon enough!
Its never too early to teach kindness. I am so happy this doll helps and promotes positivity.
WellieWishers is a fantastic idea. It is so important to teach our kids to be kind and compassionate.
I need to get these for my daughter. I’ve never really gotten creative and just taught them how to be kind. Where we live my kids deal with bullying and not so kind kids on a daily basis so its been rather easy for us.
I am getting one of these for my daughter for Christmas. They’re so beautiful and I love the lesson they teach to our children!
These dolls are so cute! I love all your tips here. So true that kids love learning while having fun. This is so helpful!
I have never heard of Wellie Wishers before, the little Wellies are everything, nice to see a toy that reinforces and encourages POSITIVE behavior! Bravo! :-)
I love that the dolls promote kindness and friendship, something that is really important to instill in our girls at a young age. I’ll be sure to keep Wellie Wishers in mind for the girls in my family when I start my holiday shopping. I am sure they will be a big hit this year!
Teaching children to be kind and considerate is so important, especially in this day and age. I love the idea of a doll that promotes positivity through play.
I absolutely adore this product line for girls! Any dolls that empower my kid to be kinder and gentler and imparts ideas that will help her develop into a more empathetic individual get my vote of approval!
I have always loved American Girl. They got my daughter interested in history and in different cultures. I love that these dolls promote kindness!
I absolutely love this. The world is getting more and more nasty, and I think we as parents need to make sure we’re raising children who can change that. Thanks for sharing this!