Hobbies And Interests
Dollhouse Decorating Finance Game
Girls around 10 and 11 enjoy this game. According the National Association for Single Sex Education in the Public Schools, girls learn math best by "trying what you&'re teaching into the real world." Begin the game by giving the girls a large amount of play money, somewhere between 50,000 to 100,000 dollars. Place all of the dollhouse furniture and appliances in a specific place and call it a furniture store. Put prices on all of the pieces. Let the girls furnish their doll houses, but they must stay within their budgets to do it. If they go over budget, they lose and must adjust their budget. If they stay within their budget, they win. Either way, they really win because they begin to develop a concept of working within a budget.
Dollhouse Decorating Spatial Design Game
Give two girls the same furniture and the same room in duplicate dollhouses, but do not let them see what the other person is doing. Allow them 10 minutes to decorate the room. When the time is up, compare rooms. Discuss the likenesses and differences. Give them furniture for the next room. Continue until all of the rooms of the dollhouses are decorated. Take pictures of both girls with their newly decorated homes.
Dollhouse Decorating Functionality Games
This game makes girls aware of how houses are built and why things have to be arranged in certain ways. Give girls a floor plan of a dollhouse that shows them the locations if such items as electrical outlets, pipes for plumbing and sewer lines in the yard. Ask girls questions about the dollhouse. For example, "Where could you put a bathroom in this dollhouse?" "Is there anywhere that you should not put a pool?" "Could you plug in a game system, a computer, a stereo and a DVD player in this room?" Let the girls work in teams. Give play money for each correct answer, explaining to them that this is the money that they saved by not making a mistake in decorating their house. The team with the most money at the end of the game wins.