Testimonials
Niya is a truly amazing doll. I think girls age 6 to 10 would be enthusiastic about the doll. Niya has everything most little girls would look for in a doll (e.g., attractive face and hair, manipulable arms and legs, beautiful costumes), which is important to getting her “in the door.” But Niya is much more than an ordinary doll. The concept of Niya as a world traveler is something that would capture children’s imagination. By speaking other languages and by singing songs with Latin or African instruments, the doll exposes children to the aspects of other cultures that would interest children the most at this age.
The way Niya is put together makes sense from a child development point of view. Research studies and the everyday experience of teachers indicate that children of this age learn best through hands-on activities, through stories and through song. At age 6, children are very receptive to other languages and to songs with different rhythms and melodies. Children truly have “an ear” for other languages at this age, something that they tend to lose after age 12, according to research studies. Of course the doll isn’t intended to teach children to speak another language, but I think it would spark children’s interest in other languages.
But the real value of the doll is the exposure children would get to cultures around the world. In America in particular, children don’t have much contact with other cultures. As a nation, we tend to be much more monolingual and monocultural than other countries. This is surprising, because America is also a nation of immigrants. Americans have the opportunity to learn about other cultures from the immigrants all around them, but this opportunity is rarely exploited. Niya may spark an interest in the child in learning about the culture of other children at school or from the family’s neighbors.
Another important aspect of the Niya doll concept is that it is complex enough that parents will need to help their younger children (age6-8) play with it. The parent can bring a lot to the experience of the doll, whether it be reading the story book aloud, talking about other countries, or even helping the child to practice some of the foreign language words. The most important thing a parent can do with this doll, however, is more subtle. Simply by bringing a doll of this type into the home, the parent gives the child a message of tolerance of other cultures, and even interest in other cultures. It is the parent’s attitude toward other cultures that will in the long run, be reflected in the child’s attitude. Children form their attitudes about their own race and culture and about that of other people during the years 6 to 12. Anything that can help parents promote a more accepting attitude would be highly desirable.
Now we need something like this for our boys!
—Frank Manis, Professor Psychology, University of Southern California
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