Boys and Girls Toys

Do you remember a toy you wanted more than anything as a child but never received?

For me, it was the Easy-Bake Oven.

As soon as I hit the second floor of my cousins’ house, I made a beeline for that oven. It seemed like every girl but me had one.

During a discussion with a friend (who would later become my husband), I found out even he had an Easy-Bake Oven.

His parents bought it for him more than 30 years ago. I’ll admit I was kind of jealous when he first told me, but now I’m grateful they did. They raised an accomplished cook who even cleans house on occasion. When I told him I wanted to buy a kitchen for our son, he encouraged me. Boy-toy-versus-girl-toy debate averted.

But when I went shopping for a kids kitchen, I grew frustrated at the amount of pink and purple in front of me. Not to mention the Girl Gourmet logos plastered over most of the products. Knowing this toy would end up in our kitchen, I hoped to find something in a neutral color. No dice. Not even close.

A friend remembered my dilemma, luckily, and contacted me a few weeks later about a toy kitchen she had rescued from the trash.

A Dumpster kitchen? Really?

She assured me it was in salvageable condition. And she was right.

A long bubble bath, a little disinfectant, and we were almost good to go. The microwave and battery-operated stove top were missing – and so were all the utensils.

I spent $3 on orange foam and stickers, which decorate the sign where the microwave once sat. For the stove top, I triple-wrapped a piece of strong plastic in foil and hot glued it to the frame. Then I decorated a piece of foam with marker (to make burners) and glued that piece on top.

I placed a phone call to the manufacturer, and American Plastic Toys kindly mailed me some replacement decals – for free. I decorated the ice maker with stickers that resemble tiny magnets. We already owned plenty of utensils and plastic food to fill up our refurbished toy. Voila!

Not only did we score a kitchen priced under $5, but we saved an American-manufactured product from the landfill. My husband and I also were grateful we missed out on having to assemble it.

The parents fared well. But what about the kid?

That kitchen is one of his favorite toys. And every child that visits – boys and girls alike – adore it too.

In a 2005 study published by the scientific journal Sex Roles, researchers asked 292 college undergrads to rate photos of toys as “for boys, girls or for both.” Participants perceived the toy kitchen as “moderately feminine” along with a toy store, brooms and mops.

Researchers concluded contemporary adults’ attitudes about the gendered nature of toys have changed in the past several decades; however, toys remain very much associated with one gender or the other.

“Children’s development is probably best served by exposure to moderately stereotyped toys … and gender-neutral toys, rather than to strongly gender-stereotyped toys. Both boys’ and girls’ development could be enhanced by learning domestic skills, as wells as by learning to build with construction toys,” write researchers Judith E. Owen Blakemore and Renee E. Centers.

In a world where men play an increasingly active role in raising children and women fight fires, why not give children the opportunity to practice a variety of skills?

Now I wonder ... When will our son ask for an Easy-Bake Oven?