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Grounds the discussion in Sesame Street’s long-standing commitment to playful learning and gender equity, then reviews psychological research and evidence-based practices for reducing endorsement of gender stereotypes by reshaping toys, play contexts, and programming.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/reducing-gender-stereotypes-in-toys-and-play-for-smarter-stronger-and-kinder-kids-key-discussion-and-evidence-based-practices/591652/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/reducing-gender-stereotypes-in-toys-and-play-for-smarter-stronger-and-kinder-kids-key-discussion-and-evidence-based-practices/591652.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Dipper","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"How does gender-typed play begin and persist in childhood?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Gender-typed play behaviors begin in preschool and continue throughout childhood. They include gender-typed toy interests, gender-typed play styles, and gender-segregated play groups that become tightly linked.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What differences in play styles and toy interests are reported between boys and girls?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Research cited in the article indicates boys tend to prefer traditionally masculine toys and a rough-and-tumble style, while girls tend to prefer traditionally feminine toys and a more cooperative style. These differences emerge in toddlerhood and strengthen through preschool and elementary school.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What factors influence children’s gender-typed toy interests?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The article discusses biological influences such as prenatal hormones, socialization by parents and peers through modeling and reinforcement, and media and advertising that label toys by gender or differentiate audiences using explicit and implicit cues.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},591652,1792165674,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":55,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},1374404997633,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Reducing Gender Stereotypes in Toys and Play for Smarter, Stronger, and Kinder Kids  \n•  \nErica S. Weisgram  \nThe author discusses gender differences in children’s play and its relation to the programs of Sesame Street, which for fifty years has sought to enhance children’s physical, cognitive, and social development through playful learning. Gender differences in children’s play, she asserts, are vast, and she notes that, consequently, boys and girls may develop different skills and learn different concepts through their play. Given this, Sesame Street remains committed to gender equity and opposed to gender stereotypes and seeks to prevent the development of and reduce the endorsement of these stereotypes among young children, especially in their play. Key words: gender equity;  \ngender schema; gender stereotypes; gender-typed play; gender-typed toys;  \nSesame Street  \nFor fifty years, Sesame Street has been a leader in children’s television, producing innovative programming aimed at helping children to grow “smarter, stronger, and kinder”(Sesame Workshop 2019). Learning through play, one of the principal themes of its programming, offers a primary path for preschool children to grow and develop (Singer, Golinkoff, and Hirsh-Pasek 2006) . However, given that boys and girls have very different play styles and toy interests starting in preschool, they may be growing smarter, stronger, and kinder at different rates or along different developmental trajectories. Thus, promoting gender equity and reducing gender stereotypes are important for minimizing gender differentiation and have been, and continue to be, an integral part of Sesame Workshop’s mission (Davis 2009; Cole et al. 2016) .  \nIn this article, I first briefly summarize the current research in psychology about children’s gender-typed play behaviors. Then, I discuss how these gendertyped toy and play interests affect children’s learning and development within the framework of Sesame Workshop’s smarter, stronger, kinder curriculum. Lastly, I discuss evidenced-based practices for reducing children’s gender stereotypes, highlighting the ways Sesame Workshop has developed programming to reduce gender stereotypes, and I explore how breaking down children’s stereotypes  \n74  \nAmerican Journal of Play, volume 12, number 1 © The Strong [Contact Erica S. Weisgram at eweisgra@uwsp.edu](Contact Erica S. Weisgram at eweisgra@uwsp.edu)  \nabout toys and play may affect their later development.  \nChildren’s Gender-Typed Play Behaviors  \nGender-typed play behaviors begin in preschool and continue throughout childhood. These play behaviors include gender-typed toy interests, gender-typed play styles, and gender segregated play groups. Gender segregation becomes tightly interwoven with gender-typed play styles. Research has demonstrated that boys are more likely to play with other boys, play in larger groups, and have a more roughand-tumble play style than girls (Colwell and Lindsey 2005; Rose and Smith 2018). Girls, in contrast, are more likely to play with other girls, play in smaller groups, and have a more cooperative play style than boys (Rose and Smith 2018) . This gender segregation begins in the preschool years as children first grow attracted to others whom they perceive to be similar and are highly compatible in their in behavior (Martin et al. 2011; Maccoby 1998). These gender-typed play behaviors may give boys and girls different play experiences throughout their development, creating the “two cultures of childhood” noted by Eleanor Maccoby (1998).  \nChildren’s interest in gender-typed toys has been subject to a considerable amount of research in the recent literature (see Weisgram and Dinella 2018 fora recent review). Gender differences in children’s toy interests consistently loom large in the psychological literature. Boys show greater interest in traditionally masculine toys (e.g., vehicles, toy weapons, super hero toys) and girls show greater interest in traditionally fe","cbCainf2aNLOZbrf","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainf2aNLOZbrf","pdf",137849,15,"English","# Reducing Gender Stereotypes in Toys and Play for Smarter, Stronger, and Kinder Kids\n## Sesame Street, playful learning, and gender equity\n## Children’s gender-typed play behaviors\n## Gender-typed toy interests and developmental patterns\n## Factors shaping gender-typed toys: biology, socialization, and media","[{\"question\":\"How does gender-typed play begin and persist in childhood?\",\"answer\":\"Gender-typed play behaviors begin in preschool and continue throughout childhood. They include gender-typed toy interests, gender-typed play styles, and gender-segregated play groups that become tightly linked.\"},{\"question\":\"What differences in play styles and toy interests are reported between boys and girls?\",\"answer\":\"Research cited in the article indicates boys tend to prefer traditionally masculine toys and a rough-and-tumble style, while girls tend to prefer traditionally feminine toys and a more cooperative style. These differences emerge in toddlerhood and strengthen through preschool and elementary school.\"},{\"question\":\"What factors influence children’s gender-typed toy interests?\",\"answer\":\"The article discusses biological influences such as prenatal hormones, socialization by parents and peers through modeling and reinforcement, and media and advertising that label toys by gender or differentiate audiences using explicit and implicit cues.\"}]","Reducing Gender Stereotypes in Toys and Play for Smarter, Stronger, and Kinder Kids - Key Discussion and Evidence-Based Practices | PDF",1792072913,38]