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My sister-in-law bought a toy doctor's kit for my son's birthday just before my daughter was born. It consisted of toy versions of a stethoscope, thermometer, otoscope, blood pressure cuff, syringe, scalpel, and others. It was wonderfully cute and came in a white plastic carrying case. She said that my son could use it to play doctor on his baby sister. Well, this mom was not going to let that happen, so I quickly laid down the rule that he was only going to use it on Mom or a stuffed animal. He didn't really take to the toy at first, but as my daughter grew into toddlerhood, it became one of her favorites. Both of them still play with it at ages 8 and 5.
Example of a doctor's kit sold on Amazon.com.
So what is so magical about playing doctor? I always advocate creative play, and role playing is one of the best tools for that. Since it was my daughter who first liked the doctor's kit, perhaps it is the nurturing nature of females to want to comfort and heal. At this point, my son is still more into destruction as opposed to fixing things, so playing doctor doesn't appeal to him as much. I'm only guessing, so I decided to interview my kids to find out. I used the handy, free iTalk application for the iPhone to record these conversations.
Mom: What do you do when you play doctor?
Daughter: Give shots.Mom: And why do you give people shots?
Daughter: So they don't like get a flu and get the chickenpox.
Mom: Right. And what else do you do when you play doctor?
Daughter: Listen to people's hearts. And looking in people's ears and seeing all the earwax.
Mom: Earwax! So I heard somebody had [play] surgery today. Who had surgery?
Daughter: Peepie (her stuffed animal that looks like a marshmallow Peeps)... because her heart cracked a little bit.
Mom: So how did you fix it?
Daughter: I stitched it and put a bandage on it.
Mom: So what do you want to be when you grow up?
Daughter: A vet.
Mom: Do vets give shots too?
Daughter: No..
Mom: Sure they do, they give shots for rabies and feline leukemia and all sorts of stuff (we have cats).
As you can tell from my interview techniques, I never waste a teaching opportunity. There was much more to teach my son:
Mom: How were you guys playing doctor tonight?
Son: I was shooting bad guys and I got shot. And [my sister] like cut open me and put in new lungs and a new heart.Mom: So where do you think the new lungs and heart came from?
Son: Somebody else's body.
Mom: Yeah, most likely from organ donation, if you're lucky. Are you going to be an organ donor?
Son: Nope.
Mom: Did you know that Mom's an organ donor? So if I'm in a car crash and some of my organs can help save somebody else, I say, "Go ahead, take them out!". So someone can get my lungs and heart, what do you think of that?
Son: Argh!! (It was much louder in person and followed by much giggling.)
Mom: So do you know why you give people shots?
Son: Uh, to keep your bones healthy?
Mom: No, it's to prevent you from getting diseases.
Son: Like chicken pox and the flu.
Mom: Yeah, there's also polio... and mumps, measles and rubella, and tetanus, and lots of others. Anything else about playing doctor?
Son: What about the thing you put around your arm?
