Fantasy Play and Games

Almost every little girl has played house. Role playing occurs everywhere, from the playground to the playroom. The identification of character for girls is a very important aspect when playing. Many will hang up pictures in their house, from magazines, of what they look like. They enjoy dressing up and using props to help further the fantasy: old hats and jewelry, long evening dresses, old high heels. It’s often the number one gift requested for young girls at Christmas .

Character identification with Barbie, comes from pretending that the clothes and accessories are part of a personal wardrobe. Getting Barbie, dressed for different activities is an important ritual during play.Girls become the character they create. This is much like the opening segments in many online  games, when characters are created before play begins. The difference is that in video or electronic games, there is a proscribed path that characters must follow. In Barbie, the character is free to go in any direction. The stories created around Barbie and her friends are part of the play. Young girls often script out entire scenarios for Barbie. When they play together, Barbie becomes a catalyst for talking.

Girls will chat about whatever is on their minds, share information, and concerns. Then the play period resumes, as if the action was never paused. The story continues. For many girls, the actual playing of Barbie, is secondary to setting up the house. If a girl doesn’t happen to own the Barbie Dream House, then she has to create a home for Barbie. The home is the stage where all the action will take place. Putting together a home can last for hours while girls find scraps of cloth for bedspreads, boxes to make into furniture, and odd items to make into household accessories. For many, this act of creation is actually the play. Often, after so much time creating and decorating Barbie’s home, the interest in actually playing with Barbie, wears off.

Instead of playing with Barbie or developing a character in an electronic game, a teenage girl can recreate herself through clothes in dress up games. Shopping takes on the same aspects as play did when they were younger. Many older women, who loved to shop when young, often find it a nuisance when they are older. Has it lost its appeal because it no longer is fantasy play… there is no expectation of re-creation? Perhaps girls prefer play to games because while it is different than a goal oriented game, it appeals to them at the same emotional level as games appeal to boys.

Play involves contemplation, thinking, planning and using the imagination to create. Games require a more competitive mindset, where the creativity comes in trying to reach a goal before an opponent. It may be that a simulation is the bridge between games and fantasy play.