I’ve been writing about dolls all this week. I’ve covered infants and toddlers. Now I’d like to move on to preschoolers. No, it’s not yet time to introduce the fashion dolls. Here’s the theory from child development experts. Children need to imitate that which they know best at each age. This helps them process information and find their place in the world.

Unless your child regularly attends fashion shows and has sprouted, umm… female curves, her world is pretty small and is more focused on watching mom and dad take care of her and any siblings. (By the way, this goes for boys too, who will, if given half a chance feed and cuddle a baby doll -more on this in another post.)

Preschoolers love dolls with a few more features and ones that…look just like them! That’s actually the whole secret to picking out a doll. Pick on that looks the same age or slightly older than your child for maximum pretend play!

This Maki Earth Girl Doll has all the right developmental attributes and is eco –friendly too! It’s made from natural and recycled products and has a built in eco activity. Each doll comes with a backpack and a tree planting kit. Though, since I’m assuming the kit includes a seed that will someday turn into a tree, unless your planning on staying in the same home for the next 20 years or so…it might not end up being a very large tree, at least while you’re around to see it.