Pretty adorable in pink, comes with a plate, spoon, fork, bottle and dummy for hours of fun play; she is Baby Thando and not only does she say 25 phrases in English but in Zulu too. Yes, an additional 25 phrases in Zulu.
In a Country like South Africa, so rich with culture and diversity, I think Baby Thando is such a wonderful and much needed idea. Children need to be exposed to diversity, even through dolls. Note I said children and not girls. Yes, I gave my toddler son a doll to play with because I believe that he will be stimulated in more than one way;
To tap into his sense of nurturing
I recall the days that I played with dolls. I used to love playing house. It was such a fun thing to do yet at that time in my life, I didn’t even understand what I was doing, I instinctively cared for my dolls. I wanted to braid their hair, sing to them, talk to them, bath them, dress them up, etc. I wanted to keep them safe. They were mine, I had to protect them.
In a world where there is so much of stigmatism about what a woman should or shouldn’t do or rather what is a man’s job and what isn’t, I feel that it is my responsibility to teach my child from a young age that caring for someone isn’t defined by your gender…as an example.
My intention was to therefore get Kayden to care for Baby Thando – to make her sleep, to feed her and to protect her. This will inevitably cultivate his sense of responsibility.
To unleash his Imagination
Taking care of a Baby doll in a make-believe world, can only have positive results – according to my unsolicited and unprofessional opinion – I’m just someone who loved dolls in my childhood and can only speak from the point of view about what it did for and to me. For me, that is positive.
The mind makes up scenarios and you play with your doll in these situations, talking to them, confiding in them and making them a part of your life, it becomes a cherished attachment.
The role playing will allow Kayden to experience different emotions and relationships. We don’t realise it at first, but when you take a step back and watch how a child role plays, you see amazing things happen and I am loving experiencing most of this with Kayden – yep…most, not all….sadly, the unfortunate thing about being a working mum
To educate him about Diversity
To learn from this tender age that people are different. From the colour of their skin, to the language they speak. Baby Thando is the perfect doll for this lesson. She says 25 phrases including “Sawubona Mama”, “Ngilambile”, “Bheka mama ilanga libalele” and “Cela ungixoxela inganekwane” in Zulu and 25 other phrases in English.
If you want your child to learn a few Afrikaans words, the other doll in this range is Baba Tasha, who speaks 50 phrases in Afrikaans, including “Ek is honger” and “Ek is lief vir jou” and many more. In a diverse country like ours, I think it’s imperative that diversity is reflected in the toys our children play with.
On that note, there is a Baby Bella in this range who is English-speaking and also features 50 phrases. In my era of dolls, there was no diversity, they were all the same colour and shape too. It is pleasing to see that this has changed and continues to, more significantly.
There are of course much more benefits but I am not an expert or anywhere near – with regards to child development, so let me leave that to the professionals.
If you’re just a mum like me, who would like to expose your child to diversity in terms of gender, language, race, skin colour, etc., I think that Baby Thando will be an investment to add to your child’s toy collection.
So yes, as a modern mummy, as I’d like to think of myself – those were my intentions for allowing my boy child to play with a doll. I honestly can’t tell you that he has been attached to her, perhaps he needs more time to bond…it has been a week, I highly doubt it though.
I am glad that he had the freedom of choice though, to decide if he wanted to play with a doll or not. Baby Thando has been added to his toy collection, she is lying on one of our couches as I write this…if Kayden wants to play with her…she will be around and I’ll be glad if he learns those Zulu words from her…it will certainly be more than I know!
Ideal for ages two years and over.
Available at good toy stores and retailers countrywide. RSP: R 699.99
For more information go to www.primatoys.co.za
GIVEAWAY
I’ve partnered with the awesome people from Prima Toys and am giving One Lucky reader the chance to win a Baby Thando Doll
All you have to do, is share with me in the comments below, why you would like the child you’re entering this competition for, to win a Baby Thando Doll?
T’s and C’s
South African residents only
Prize is not transferable or exchangeable for cash
Competition ends at midnight on the 21st March 2018.
Disclaimer: I was sent this product for review purposes. My views and opinions, as always, are my own.
Hi. Who won the baby thando doll
My niece is 8 years old , and is that level of being multilingual . This doll provides a Universal and Local language , thus enabling her to learn the mother tongue of our country .
I’ve been looking for the perfect baby doll for my little girl and I think this one is perfect. I want her to learn about our beautiful diverse country and other cultures.
I would love this for my daughter who just turned 4, as a way to include her in my daily routine of taking care of her little sister, who is 6months old
Wow this doll is amazing. When I was a child we were lucky is the arms and legs even moved. My little daughter is 3 years old and we will be welcoming baby number 2 in June. I would love to win this doll for her so that she has a doll to play with before and when her baby brother arrives. Given everything Baby Thanda can do and teach, I really think it would be a lovely doll that would help her to understand about welcoming a baby into our home and to help get her ready for the arrival of her little brother. I love the fact that Baby thando speaks some Zulu phrases as I believe that all children should be learning multiple languages in SA. I have also heard that it helps them to develop their brain as well. Thank you and best of luck to everyone.
My niece is 3 years old. She is fluent in english and afrikaans. Another language would be great. She’s in the parrot stage, everything she hears, she will repeat. This doll would teach her various zulu phrases that she can teach the rest of the family. She would love this educational doll!
I’d like to win this for my niece who turns two on the 24th of March. She just started playing with dolls and I believe this will be a very educational toy for her. I’m due with my first baby in August so I think she will gain some knowledge on babies with interacting with this baby doll. She has a 6 year old brother who often plays with her so this would be an ideal gift where they both would learn about equality and That both gender can play with dolls since when they grow up both mother’s and father’s can bring up babies
I would like to win this for my daughter, it would be nice for her to have this doll in the house as she’s learning Zulu at school and we don’t speak Zulu
Wow interesting doll. It’s nice that the doll talks a different language, especially since toddlers pick up languages so easily.
i would love Leo to be exposed to Zulu words. this is awesome
I’ve been teaching my daughter diversity from an early age bt buy her a Toys with roots doll. It’s important to me that she knows we are all different, from the colour of our skins, the texture of our hair, language and culture. She still loves her doll, Zola so she’d absolutely love Thando to be Zola’s baby sis and also I’d love for her to learn these phrases from Thando.
i would love to win this for my daughter adeline who turns two in april because i want her to learn a second language which will prepare her for school where she will be forced to learn so its better to introduce her to zulu in a fun way so she would find zulu quite interesting in school and probably be very good at it thank u nicola for taking the time out of ur busy life to inform us all the time keep up the good work i love reading your blog
I would luv to win this for my daughter who is turning 4 at the end of the month. I would luv for her to learn Zulu words, this would be very educational.
I would love my daughter to learn about diversity and be able to speak another language.
My granddaughter loves dolls and shes learning to talk,this doll is making learning new words in another language fun.I think the range of dolls is awesome!
I would definitely love my daughter who is 5 to learn more about adversity and also learn a few Zulu phrases at this age
I absolutely enjoying reading this well written interesting , informative and enlightening review. I love to win this doll for Amaani as this doll will be a great way for her to learn Zulu phrases , to get familiar, accept and bond in terms of diversity. This doll is just not for playing with but teaches a child its a fun and educational way to introduce the Zulu language as well. Thank you for the opportunity to win for her.
Yes, it is an excellent idea that Kayden can make the Choice if he wants to Play with Baby Thando or Not. We are living in a diverse world and it is the person that counts irrelevant of skin colour, race, sex, nationality, etc.
Life is easier when we learn this at a very early age. Well done Nicole!