A doll is not just a toy. From the most ancient times, she carried the most important function in herself - she prepared the girl for the most important event in her life - motherhood.
Bereginya doll
Initially, in antiquity, the doll played the role of an idol, a god, later the doll began to be used as a talisman, depending on the circumstances. A straw doll or a doll carved from wood was placed in the baby's bed to watch over his sleep, to protect him from evil spirits, which, if something happened, had to take the doll for a baby and take away instead of him. The doll was placed in the bed of a sick person so that she took on the disease, then they burned it or buried it. Dolls were also used in various ceremonies and rituals as amulets for all occasions. In Slavic mythology, the doll had a close connection with the other world, with the souls of ancestors.
Doll toy
Not immediately, the doll became a common toy, for a long time after the planting of Christianity in Russia, it served as a talisman, a talisman. Does it serve to this day?
Nevertheless, the doll became a subject of play for children. And it could not be otherwise, because the child, in whose cradle the amulet doll lay, of course, played with it. This straw or wood carved figure, wrapped in shreds, became the first and most favorite toy. After all, even a wrapped block of wood, very remotely reminiscent of a human figure, in the girl's imagination was her child. The girl was rocking and lulling a doll - Lyalka, Lelka, named after Leli (Lyala) - the daughter of the Slavic goddess Lada, who personifies the child in general. The girl did not part with the doll until the very marriage, then secretly took it, along with the parental blessing, to the house of her husband.
How girls play with dolls
The play of children with dolls always reflects the surrounding reality, the inner world of the girl herself. Everything that she sees around her that most of all occupies her imagination finds a place in role-playing games with dolls. What matters is the locality where the child lives, the situation in the family, the circle of friends. A psychologist can tell a lot about a child just by watching him play.
In the game, the girl is almost always the mother of the doll. If several children play, then others become "relatives", sometimes "teachers" or "doctors". Then a riot of fantasy begins. Various everyday or fantastic scenes are played out with dolls. The better the child is, the brighter his imagination, the more interesting the game. Dolls are dressed, dressed up, painted, combed, taken to the cinema and restaurants, seated for books, punished, fed, put to bed. Children are so absorbed in play that it is not easy to tear them away from it.
In the games of rural children, pets are always present along with dolls, and the dolls themselves do the necessary village work.
Currently, there are many dolls on sale, as well as accessories for them. But it was not always so. Before the revolution in tsarist Russia, dolls were a luxury item, they were made of porcelain and real hair, and were very expensive. Children were allowed to hold such a doll only on major holidays, which made them very upset. I had to make dolls from improvised means.
Playing with dolls is of great importance in the development of a child. They help social adaptation, develop imagination and fantasy.
