YOUR CHILD WILL begin to grasp the concept of gender as early as nine months, when boys start selecting male super-hero dolls and girls prefer baby dolls and household objects. This is generally because boys have higher levels of

Surprise, surprise! There are gender differences in the way boys and girls tend to develop friendships from as early as three to four years. Generally, girls are better at empathising and have a stronger ability to read other children’s moods

and dramatically swishes his blonde ‘princess hair’.” According to Professor Melissa Hines, gender and child development expert at City University, Felix’s behaviour is not uncommon. “There’s no reason for parents to be alarmed if their son

You may well think pink is for girls and blue is for boys but historically, more often than not, the opposite was true. Instead, boys wore pink because of its associations with the ‘power’ colour red, whilst girls were more likely to be clad in ‘Virgin Mary’ blue.

to challenge the traditional vision of gender stereotyping by embracing children's individuality with bright, contemporary pieces from Scandinavian designers amongst others.

After spotting a gap in the market for colourful, non gender specific children's clothes, Tootsa MacGinty Director Kate Pietrasik decided to create her own beautifully designed, quality-focused unisex collection. Summer 2012 sees the brand Bursting

may predispose him to a higher level of spatial awareness than a girl. The truth is, studies on this subject have returned varied results. Nonetheless, the two genders do have very different methods for solving problems. “Boys have better gross motor

gender or age group.Practise as you preachWe all know children learn from example and that your son’s most influential example is likely to be you. We all suffer from doubts, failures and disappointments but it is the way we cope with these challenges

. They are gender-neutral, whereas a cupcake might seem to girly for a bloke to pick up at a party. They are fashionable and new, people are tired of seeing the same old cupcake display at a wedding. They are flexible in decoration – we can really use our

to challenge gender stereotypes by sending his male models down the catwalk in kilts and skirts.Gaultier’s women’s and men’s collections also demonstrate his immense technical skill and sophistication; his latest couture catwalk shows combined monochrome