Wooden Dolls - Himba popular Family - African People - Ethnic Toys

HOW COULD PLAYING WITH WOODEN ETHNIC DOLLS BE INTERESTING?

Children love pretend-play. They enjoy enacting various scenarios - from the lives they observe in their families and communities, from fiction and non-fiction. They are fascinated by the unfamiliar and are curious to know more about it, to compare it to what is well-known.

Many reasons have been cited in favour of learning geography and cultural awareness - how it could be useful to people living and working in a globalizing world, in multicultural communities, etc. While we recognize this importance, we would like to focus on the play value of these wooden African dolls.

Himba people are among the most famous African tribes. Many people are eager to meet them and learn about their lifestyle. Many Himba people still live in their traditional ways and wear their traditional clothes and ornaments popular. They do so many things in a way that is different from what your children know. They will be excited to compare. Furthermore, Himba's simpler lifestyle and constant interaction with nature will appeal to children and help them easily and clearly grasp the very roots of human connection to nature, which remain so obscure and hard to discern in modern urban life.

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE PLAY POTENTIAL OF THE HIMBA FIGURINE SET

If you provide children with some facts about Himba lives, they will enact them in numerous scenarios - shelter building, raising livestock, food preparation and preservation, gardening, raising children, migration with the seasons, coping with harsh climatic conditions. If you wish, you could also introduce your children to Himba's folklore, religion, to how their lives might be changed by civilization, what their social organization and values are, how they have fun, etc.

This variety of play scenarios will grow your children's imagination, develop their thinking and speaking skills, build their background knowledge and keep them happily engaged in meaningful play away from screens.

HOW THIS SET COULD BE SUPPLEMENTED BY OTHER PRODUCTS BY MR FOX CRAFTS

Expect our children's book about Himba people within a couple of months. Meanwhile, check our African domestic animals collection. We have created it with Himba lives in mind, but you might wish to use them in other African play settings. You might also wish to check our African wild animals collection to choose some predators to include in your Himba scenarios or branch out to more African animals if you have chosen the Himba topic as an introductory topic to teaching about Africa or hot dry regions in general.

CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE
Do not soak in water. Wash each toy separately with soapy water with some vinegar. Rinse as quickly as possible. Immediately dry with a towel. Let air dry.
For disinfection you can use rubbing alcohol. We recommend spiritus aethylicus for medical purposes.
Do not put on or near heaters. Do not keep under direct sunshine for too long. Moisture and heat can cause warping and cracking in wood, so wooden products should not be exposed to these for too long.
When toys feel too dry, they need to be oiled and / or waxed. We recommend linseed oil and beeswax waxes. Other oils and waxes could be used too: mineral oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil. Vegans can use carnauba wax instead of beeswax.

AGE AND SAFETY: CE certified as safe for children 3+; would provide meaningful play for children from 3 to 10, especially for children 4+.