BlogHer moms know how important it is to stimulate creativity and intellectual development. That's why we've partnered with LEGO^® DUPLO^® to bring you a place to share your ideas with other moms and find new ways to teach your kids in a fun and entertaining way!

Meet NieNie from the NieNie Dialogues, Mary from OwlHaven, and Stephanie from Totally Together Journal. They're here to answer all of your questions on how to get your kids to unplug and use their own imagination. Click here to submit a question.

This week Stephanie O'Dea from A Year of Slowcooking and Totally Together Journal talks about role playing and social development.

One of my favorite things is to eavesdrop on my children while they are playing—either with each other, or all alone.

 I’m always surprised at the games they make up, and the roles they adopt to act out their games. We’ve been playing with DUPLO^® an awful lot, lately, and have quite a few DUPLO^® dinosaurs leftover from my “little” brother’s childhood (he’s now 25). My girls have been taking turns being Jurassic Zoo keepers, and have enjoyed bossing the plastic Dinosaurs around and putting them in time out when they misbehave.

It seems the most common timeout infractions are for name-calling, or for not listening. Ironically enough, these have been issues in our own house lately.

I’m also astonished at the traditional gender roles my girls steer towards when playing toys—even non-gender specific toys such as LEGO^® and DUPLO^®. My 4-year-old makes “DUPLO^® Stew” and stirs the building blocks with a plastic spoon. She then feeds her stuffed animals their dinner. Green blocks are vegetables, and the red ones are always strawberries.

I enjoy watching the way kids can work on figuring out the world around them through play. If bossing around DUPLO^® dinosaurs somehow builds confidence in my girls, I’m all for it. I’m also up for any play surrounding eating fruits and vegetables. Even if these food items happen to be square blocks (The Jetsons anyone?).

When your kids don’t know you’re watching, what type of games do they make up? Do they stick close to stereotypical gender roles, or do they branch out a bit?

-Stephanie

Stephanie O'Dea writes the popular blog A Year of Slowcooking and Totally Together Journal.  Her cookbook was recently released and she has two darling daughters (and is due in December with baby #3.)  She has also run childcare centers for the court system.

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