
Baby Gender and Toy Preference
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Do babies as young as four months already prefer certain toys? You set up a toy truck and a doll behind a curtain at a daycare center. One at a time, you reveal both toys to 10 boys and 10 girls aged 4 to 8 months.
You watch each baby's eye movements for 10 seconds. You repeat the test three times per baby and swap the toy positions each round. The boys gaze at the truck more often. The girls gaze at the doll more often.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that baby boys will prefer trucks and baby girls will prefer Barbie dolls.
Method & Materials
You will need permission from a daycare center to conduct the experiment, 10 baby boys and 10 baby girls, a Barbie doll, a toy truck, a curtain, a stopwatch, and an assistant. The experiment involves observing the baby's eye movements for 10 seconds to determine which toy the baby prefers.
You will need permission from a daycare center, 10 baby boys and 10 baby girls, a Barbie doll, a toy truck, a curtain, a stopwatch, and an assistant.
Results
The results showed that all of the baby boys gazed at trucks more often, while the baby girls gazed at Barbie dolls more often. This suggests that the baby's gender affects its preference for toys.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it explores the idea that babies may have a preference for certain toys based on their gender, even though they may not be able to differentiate gender yet.
Also Consider
Consider repeating the experiment with 18 month-old babies, or using a Barbie doll and a GI Joe doll instead of trucks.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related videos
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
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