Children spanking dolls

Illustration by Florence England Nosworthy from the children's book The diary of a birthday doll (1908).

Children love roleplaying, and girls, in particular, often use dolls as roleplaying partners. Since dolls don't speak or move (unless they are special technical dolls), this greatly strengthens the child's imagination. Playing with dolls is also believed to be good for the development of social skills.

A popular and classic scenario is that the child will play the role of an adult (e.g. a mother) and the doll will play the role of a child. This often leads to very sweet scenes in which the child scolds her doll and/or "punishes" her for being "naughty". These may include classic punishments such as corner time or spanking, if the child is familiar with these.

Many children will "act out" a spanking scenario they see in children's books or will emulate the spankings they receive from their parents. This may include scolding or lectures prior to the spanking. Even in the administration of the spanking, the child will use any method on the doll their parent uses on them.