Neil Gussman gave his young daughters dump trucks. "They played in the dirt a couple of times, but after that, they loaded the dump trucks full of dolls and took them on picnics," Gussman says. On the other hand, "our son can take any innocuous item and pretend it is a weapon, despite being socialized by three older sisters and parents who would not let him own toy guns or swords."

Raising four children and with years of experience working with children in Sunday school, Gussman is a firm believer that it comes to nature overriding nurture regarding children, toys and the way they play.

Dr. Vicki Panaccione, child clinical psychologist and founder of the Better Parenting Institute, agrees with Gussman's assessment. "I have seen time and time again that young children will, primarily, gravitate toward gender-specific toys," she says. "Put children in a room, and the boys head for the trucks, blocks and army guys, while girls go to the dolls, kitchens and girly things. I think they are probably hot-wired."

However, she adds that it is a good idea to expose kids to a variety of toys and be allowed to choose, explore and try out different things. "Children need to be allowed to seek what they seek," Dr. Panaccione says.

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