Many kinds of pink and purple boxes accept the challenge. For Matt, deprived of toy guns, a rectangular brick or a well-aimed finger would do just fine to take care of invisible bad guys. For Emily, who preferred her crayons and a sketch pad to any toy we bought, my clothes and makeup provided hours of fun. They still do. She never asked for a quarter for an arcade game.
Girls do want to have fun.
They play games traditionally enjoyed by both genders. They play games traditionally associated with boys. But very often, girls want to play like girls. Like traditional girls, they want to dress up and apply makeup. They want to nurture.