Sponsored by Barbie & Digital Parents
I was eleven. On a visit to the toy section (in Myer by memory), I spotted a doll and immediately fell in love with her. It’s the only time I remember really (really!) wanting a toy as a child. I hadn’t seen a Barbie like her before. She had crimped light brown hair, freckles and green eyes. Freckles! I especially loved the freckles. For whatever reason, I didn’t end up receiving the doll for my birthday, but the image of that doll never left me. I’ve never quite got over it I guess – haha. It’s funny the things you remember!
I researched to see if I could find this doll in my head…and I found her!! I’m pretty sure it’s the All Stars Midge Barbie from 1990 that I wanted so much. I hunted down a list of Barbies made from 1980 to 2004 so if anyone is interested in finding the names of Barbies made each year between the retro time period (helps you to Google the correct thing) you can find the list here.
1990 All Stars Midge Barbie
Below is one of the images I used in my research. Shown are a variety of Midge Barbie dolls over the years, and not many of them have freckles.
Images by PattyPatty85 on Flickr
I didn’t get my freckled Barbie, however over the years of my childhood, I played with and collected a variety of Barbie dolls. Now I’m a parent, and my kids enjoy playing with the dolls in many different ways, from imaginative and social play to craft and outdoor play. I’ve shared many of these ideas in a list below.
This brings back fond memories for me, I find myself engaged in the children’s games, eager to facilitate and extend their play using craft or changing the play environment. Recently I made a Barbie bedroom in one of the low shelves in my 9-year-old daughter’s bedroom. Most of the items you can find around the house and it doubles as a gorgeous bedroom decoration. You can find the full tutorial on how to make the bed out of a shoebox and all the different elements I used in the project here.
The only problem is my other two younger kids loved it so much, and they all want an “apartment” in the shelves too. Fortunately there are three low shelves in a row so I’ll be making more beds this week. It’s simple too (and I find it fun to create these play environments for the kids).
This is the sort of thing I love to share because it’s engaging for both me and my daughter, and that’s special. Now there’s an easy way to share Barbie play ideas and inspiration by using the #motherdaughtertime hashtag on Facebook. It’s a great way to search for inspiration and to connect with mums around the world.
To start off with, below are some of the ways I’ve enjoyed Barbie dolls over the years with my kids.
- Create a gorgeous Barbie bed from a shoebox.
- A medicine box is a perfect size for a mini Barbie bed.
- Make milk bottle lid plates.
- Do a hair salon and untangle Barbie’s hair with this simple trick.
- Colour water in an underbed storage container for sensory fun.
- Craft your own Barbie clothes using organza gift bags. No sewing required!
- Tie ribbon to a hairband to make a tutu.
- Weave a pipe cleaner crown, a child-sized one and one for the doll.
- Repurpose a small shampoo bottle into a cute tote for Barbie.
- Film your own Barbie movie with a smart phone.
- Play in a backyard sheet tent.
Through all this researching, creating and playing, I had the idea to track down the doll from my childhood I wanted so much and buy her, because why not! I’m going to do it! And my daughter loves her too so she’s excited if I can track one down.
Giveaway
I’m giving away 3 Barbie prize packs over the next 3 weeks (one prize pack each week). Each pack contains the following products:
- 1 x Barbie Rainbow Hair $39.99
- 1 x Barbie Colour Me Cute $39.99
- 1 x Barbie Fashionista $18.99 (please note that the item may differ from image)
- 1 x Barbie I Can Be doll $18.99 (please note that the item may differ from image)
To enter, leave a comment below with a childhood memory you have of Barbie.
Giveaway now ended. Winners have been notified. Congratulations: Ann-Marie, Sarah and Ashleigh.
Competition Terms and Conditions
- To enter, comment on this post with a childhood memory you have of Barbie.
- You must be an Australian resident older than 18 years of age to enter.
- You must provide a valid email address and entries are limited to one per household.
- Entries close Sunday, June 21 at 11:59pm Australian EST.
- Entries will be judged on merit and creativity.
- Three winners will each receive a Barbie prize pack – 1 x Barbie Rainbow Hair $39.99, 1 x Barbie Colour Me Cute $39.99, 1 x Barbie Fashionista $18.99 (please note that the item may differ from image), 1 x Barbie I Can Be doll $18.99 (please note that the item may differ from image).
- Winners will be contacted by email and announced on this post by Tuesday, June 23 2015.
- The winners must claim the prize within 4 days or the prize will be re-drawn.
- The winners agree to have their contact details passed on to the appropriate PR company or brand representative who will send out/organise the prizes directly.
68 Comments
Tracee Taylor
May 30, 2015 at 10:51 pmMy barbies were my most favourite possession growing up and i was well into double digits before i could even consider giving them up (and i never did- they remained in my cupboard and received a new lease on life when my now 4 year old was 2 and discovered them – she is fanatical about all things barbie – a girl truly after my own heart!) My strongest ever memory of playing with my barbies though was when myself and my best friend who live a few doors up from me were playing eith our barbies in the creek than ran by her house and she sent her most valued ‘Western Star Barbie’ downstream with the current towards me. I was supposed to catch the barbie & return her upstream. Unfortunately however she sailed straight past me and i lost sight of her!! To this very day she remains at large and i live with the regret of not being quick enough. And when i visit my parents and we inevtiably take a walk with my daughter up the road to look at the creek i still find myself looking and hoping that by some miracle that barbie will float out from under the rock where she must have been caught for the last 30 or so years. Maybe one day…
Jessica
May 31, 2015 at 7:02 amI had 2 barbies when I was little. All I remember of them is when I was about 8 years old, my little brother got into Dad’s toolshed and found the grey spray paint and he sprayed my barbies both grey!
Their faces and hair were especially grey 🙁
And my Dad wouldn’t get me new ones because he said I could still play with them. So I had to play with my sad grey barbies. Childhood trauma.
Mary Preston
May 31, 2015 at 10:57 amMy Godmother gave me a particularly sassy and spunky Barbie for my birthday one year. My sister was so jealous that she cut all of Barbie’s hair off. As you can imagine I was upset and angry and upset some more. That is until my mother, a wonder with a sewing needle, made Barbie an amazing series of jaunty hats, some with hair attached of different styles.
(My sister got into so much trouble over the hair cutting that she did not dare carry out her threat of burning all the hats.)
Nicole kent
June 1, 2015 at 9:02 amI was obsessed with Barbie as a young girl. All I ever wanted was the Campervan to go with the Barbies I had. It was the sought after piece between my friends and I. It meant that Barbie could go on holidays with Skipper and Ken.
Finally after years of asking, Santa got me one for Christmas and my place became the Barbie hangout for all of my friends and I.
I have great memories of playing with Barbie and know my daughter will too!
Holly
June 1, 2015 at 9:06 amBarbies were by far my favourite. I had a lot of hand me down stuff from my sister and I loved setting up house for my barbies. Apparently there was a passion for decorating at a young age as I did the same with my Lego.
Mum still has her barbie from her childhood. It’s pretty scary but very cool to see how much they have changed over time. My daughter has just started her barbie stage 🙂
Lesley Lomas
June 1, 2015 at 9:44 amMy Mum could never find her Tupperware bowls as I used to make them into Swimming pools for Barbie and her friends. My friends and I would play for hours and make clothes for them depending on where they were going.Endless fun!
Kasey E
June 1, 2015 at 9:48 amI still remember getting my first Barbie from my grandparents for Christmas, they were expensive and it was so exciting to finally have my very own ‘Barbie’.
Michelle L
June 1, 2015 at 10:45 amMy sister & I spent many hours playing with our Barbies and what I remember most are the clothes! Oh the fabulous, fantastic frocks she would wear!
My favourites were from our Barbie & the Rockers (Barbie’s own punk band!!) where they wore fur collars, shiny pants, mini skirts – all in bright colours. To go to the other extreme, I loved a romantic ball gown with a velvety red bodice and white skirt covered in velvety red love hearts.
Now my oldest daughter has just turned three and she’s bringing me her two Barbie’s, asking me to play with her. Role playing already and we’re having lots of fun 🙂
Sarah Swan
June 1, 2015 at 10:57 amUnfortunately I didn’t enjoy barbies as a kid we could never afford them so I didn’t like the girls who had them. I used to rip their heads off if I managed to get my hands on them.
Luckily my4 yr old loves her barbies especially her mermaid barbies they go everywhere with her. She even did a presentation at kindy on mermaids where she dressed as a mermaid and told them all about her barbie mermaid and what they can do.
Karen Edwards
June 1, 2015 at 11:08 amLots of fond memories growing up with 2 sisters our house was over run with Barbies one happy memory that comes to mind is we use to push our little sister around the house in our huge Barbie bus loaded up with Barbies too hours of FUN…
Kirsty
June 1, 2015 at 12:18 pmI always loved barbies growing up i still remember for my 10 th birthday my mum and dad surprised me with a pocahontas set with all the dolls in their colour changing out fits i cherished them looked after them and saved them hoping one day i could pass them on to mu own daughter and i got to watching her play with excitement with something i loved always brings tears to my eyes and i love joining in and reliving my own memories with her ???
Jill Walton
June 1, 2015 at 12:20 pmMy barbies would go camping in my garden. The tent would be an opened hard backed picture book. So much fun!
Sarah Fleming
June 1, 2015 at 1:04 pmMy favourite Barbie child memory is playing Barbies all day long with my sister. We had hours of fun setting up homes, creating families and friendships and cruising around in a cool convertible car! My sisters Barbies always looked rather punk like, she just could never help but cut all of their hair off for some reason….I was definitely the better Barbie owner haha!
karina l
June 1, 2015 at 2:42 pmI remembering taking her to the bath with me all the time and she ended up with grey blotches all over her legs.
Cathy Parker
June 1, 2015 at 5:01 pmThe cassette that came with the barbie and the rockers doll was the first cassette I ever owned of my own. My mum even made me a shiny silver top like the one barbie had so I would put the songs on at full volume and make Barbie perform concerts for my other toys while I sang back up vocals.
Katy Ewer
June 1, 2015 at 6:50 pmMy grandmother made all of my Barbie and Ken clothes. I had the best wardrobe imaginable. I had very few shop bought items. So fast forward 30 years and i was able to pull the shoe box out, wash all of the clothes and pass them onto my daughter… I often sit and dress and redress the Barbies with her… I get to relive my childhood all over again..Best of all my grandmother is still alive, and she was chuffed that my daughter is loving all the clothes all over again. . really treasured moments…
Lola McNelley
June 1, 2015 at 8:50 pmI loved my Totally Hair Barbie! I used to spend hours brushing her hair and styling it. And I absolutely loved her dress. Gorgeous!! She had lots of fun with my headless Ken doll!
Heidi
June 1, 2015 at 9:01 pmI loved playing with barbies growing up.
My two strongest memories are creating new dresses for them out of tissues, and redecorating the dolls house.
Mum would let me just go crazy with paint and everything, and dad would give me the old mini cardboard cereal boxes he got when he went away for work, to make wardrobes and anything else I could think of!
Jessica Maloney
June 1, 2015 at 9:05 pmStaging a wedding between Barbie and my older brothers Spider-Man action figure.
Brother found out what I was doing and was furious, and organised for his friends to attack the ceremony with water bombs.
DIANA
June 1, 2015 at 9:07 pmBeing absolutely shattered when my little brother, the family favourite, cut my Barbies hair off. And not just one Barbie but all three of them. Crying to Mum about what had happened, he looked at me with the devil in his eyes as if to say ‘ha ha ha suffer’ then turned to Mum and with his most angelic face and said he thought it would grow back like the other dolls on TV (remember the one’s who would grow that woolen hair, you’d cut, then press a button and it would shoot out of their heads as if it was growing). My parents thought it was amusing and he got off scott free. Still pisses me off to this very day…..can you tell?
Ern
June 1, 2015 at 9:13 pmMy sister and I holding the grandest of weddings for her favourite Barbie and my Action Man. We planned it for ages, Gran even made him a special suit and Barbie got a wedding dress made out of tissues. In hindsight it was hilarious, especially when our dog made off with Barbie and hid her in his kennel. Mum’s got photo’s of it back at her place she was showing them to the kids not long ago
Lacey dietsch
June 2, 2015 at 12:35 amI can only remember owning 2 Barbies as a kid. We weren’t very ‘well off’ and I can remember both my barbies were from th
Lacey dietsch
June 2, 2015 at 12:43 ame Barbie and the rockers group. ( sorry just realised it glitches and posted half a comment sorry.) I had the one with the fifties rockers skirt and the one with the pink tight s mini skirt and tassels. I wasn’t very in to Barbie as I was more of a tomboy but my sister used to make me play fashion parades and things with her. We used to build furniture and houses and make clothes. It was a good skill to learn how to sew and I love it. My daughter is ten and only just getting into Barbie. She also is more tomboy but just stating to show a real feminine flare and asked me for a Barbie.( she wants the rainbow hair one) so I am saving up for it for her for reward for good report card. My daughter has odd and anxiety disorder but I think Barbie can have a good influence on young girls and hoping it will help my daughter with confidence. 🙂
Jenny
June 2, 2015 at 8:49 pmI never had a Barbie when I was a young girl, I had a (teenage) Chrissie doll who was lots of fun as you could make her hair any length without cutting it. I loved her and she was my favourite doll.
I had the chance for my second girlhood when I had 3 daughters and had the opportunity to buy plenty of Barbies for them. The last one I bought was a few years ago at christmas when my youngest daughter was 15 and wanted BARBIE – GLINDA the GOOD WITCH from WIZARD OF OZ.
I now have 2 granddaughters and will start buying them Barbie dolls at christmas and birthdays because every little girl should have at least one Barbie!
Brenda Haines
June 3, 2015 at 4:47 amBarbie was my obsession as a child, I had the Malibu beach party set up and my cousin had the convertible and dream house. We were always swapping clothes and borrowing accessories. This is a great giveaway! Thanks for the chance! 🙂
Ying Ying TAN
June 3, 2015 at 1:05 pmMy Barbie memories still bring me shudders until this very day…When I was about 12, mum invited a pastor to our house. He immediately sensed EVIL spirits living amongst my precious, expensive collection of Barbies and ordered all of them to be BURNT. Although I don’t play with them anymore, I was utterly devastated and remembered having a silent war with my parents for ages!
Christina hilton
June 3, 2015 at 3:08 pmPlaying with my barbie house with working kitchen cooking ken a roast chicken for dinner and setting a candle light table with plates and knifes and forks. Playing with barbie and her sister taking them horses riding and driving them around my lounge room. I still love barbie 🙂
Carly Ashcroft
June 3, 2015 at 3:31 pmMy favourite childhood barbie memory is of me setting my loungeroom up like a concert with my barbie and the rockettes perfoming on the coffee table to an arena full of stuffed toys! I had a backstage area with a dressing room so they could have costume changes. I loved my barbie dolls and hope my daughter has lots fond childhood memories of barbie too.
cleo sids
June 3, 2015 at 6:00 pmThere were 4 of us girls and mum and dad couldn’t afford one each so we had to share our Barbie doll and take it in turns to sleep with her too. We were happy though and would play for hours.
Joy Lange
June 4, 2015 at 12:59 amHAD lots of BARBIE DOLLS use to cut and style their hair even had Ken and the campervan and lots of clothes would play with them forever
Lisa
June 4, 2015 at 8:29 amGrowing up Barbie wasn’t just a toy- she was a best friend who bordered on being a family member at times! She came on family outings and enjoyed playing at the beach. She would come camping and enjoy helping to collect all sorts of hidden bush treasures. She’d throw amazing parties for all her friends and spoil them with wool and pasta necklaces and party popper streamers. Barbie was so free and fun loving that it was impossible not to adore her! She would bomb dive into mum’s Tupperware pools and she’d even occasionally make daring escapes from the dogs mouth! There really was never a dull, boring or lonely moment when Barbie, Kelly, Stephanie and their friends were around during my childhood – and I’d love to help my own five year old daughter create similar memories of her own through imaginative Barbie play.
claire
June 6, 2015 at 9:30 amI LOVED barbies as a child. I remember even playing them secretly into my early teens when i was in high school. I will be 30 this month and still play with my old barbie with my 3 year old. I am so happy i kept them as i now have 2 girls and i hope they get as mucn enjoyment out of them as i did.
Izzy
June 6, 2015 at 11:38 amMy sister and I loved playing with barbies.. My favourite was pretty in pink barbie. We never had a ken but my brother would join in on our games and action man was barbies boyfriend! Lucky barbie!!
Kelly-Marie
June 6, 2015 at 2:22 pmBarbie was basically my BFF from the age of 5 until 12 when I became too “grown-up” for her. I owned multiple ones but my favourite was my Barbie from Barbie and the Rockers. I wish I knew what happened to her since I kept most of my favourites.
Faith Olsen
June 6, 2015 at 10:30 pmThree barbies ruled my world from my 5th birthday onwards. Golden dreams, twirly curls and crystal barbie. It should be noted I desperatly wanted peaches and cream, but it was decided that three barbies were enough)
I still have the hair twister gadget that came with twirly curls…. And it helps keep my childhood alive, as I now use it to do my 5 year old daughters hair (along with her barbies!!)
Ash
June 7, 2015 at 12:23 pmMy sisters and I loved loved loved playing Barbies! We could never afford the houses but would set up pretty complex houses using our wicker chairs for double story houses and shoe boxes and toilet rolls for beds/chairs/cars!
I am so pleased now to watch my 5yo daughter come home from preprimary with her box gluing saying it’s a car or sleigh or tent for her barbies. Although you can buy so much to go with barbies it feels so much more special when little fingers and minds work hard to make that special craft to enhance their play. I love how Barbies are such a great vehicle to begin play and encourage so much more!
Cheryl Moulton
June 7, 2015 at 4:33 pmMy sister was a Barbie lover, probably one of the first as she was born in 1950! all she ever wanted was to have her own girls as she kept all of her Barbie dolls and clothes, but unfortunately she had 3 boys!
My daughter then inherited all of hers, and she kept all of them for her own daughter who is now 10
claire evans
June 7, 2015 at 6:34 pmhaving a barbie wedding the backyard, where all the kids brought over there barbies and mum made a wedding tea, it was so much fun. mum even made a barbie wedding dress
Cate
June 7, 2015 at 10:06 pmMy sister, who was 18 months older than me, had begged for a Barbie horse for months leading up to her birthday. When the morning of her birthday arrived she rushed and opened her present before she had to go to school, and there was the most beautiful light brown Barbie horse. I watched with envy and waited until she went to school to finally have a turn. Unfortunately I snapped one of it’s legs off. I don’t think I have still been forgiven to this day-ha ha!
Sonya S
June 7, 2015 at 10:52 pmBarbie was THE BEST girls toy to have when I was a little girl.. I had Dream Glow Barbie, she was my favourite with her pink gown and glow in the dark stars!… I also had the Peaches and Cream Barbie, Ken, Barbie’s little sister Skipper ( I think was her name ) , a few more Barbie’s, as well as Barbie’s horse and a camper van… I loved them!!!.. Played for hours, took them everywhere. I’d even take them to school and we’d play at lunchtime, and then again after school, and in the bath and at the dinner table and anywhere Barbie could be, she would be there too!…
I miss those days!..
Katie Swanson
June 8, 2015 at 8:16 amMy memories with Barbie are not just limited to my childhood but as an adult I still buy Barbies when I have the spare cash, I have all the DVDS and I run a barbie fan account on Instagram with 1.2k followers!
But my most hilarious moment playing with barbies would have to be when my sister and I as children would always force the kens to sleep in the closet whilst our two barbies took the only bed we had ???? poor kens!
Tracey
June 8, 2015 at 9:51 amMy most vivid barbie memory was when my sisters and I decided to turn ‘pretty in pink’ barbie into a punk. We cut her hair, dyed it with food colouring, made a skin tight dress out of a balloon and added sleeper earrings for hoops. She rocked!
Lisa Jene
June 8, 2015 at 9:10 pmI loved my Barbie. I combed her hair each night, made her clothes out of my colouring-in books and built her a house out of my Lego. I thought my Barbie was IT, the girl with everything. Then I went to America when I was seven with my family. I visited my cousin who was a year older than me. She had ten Barbies. And the convertible car, the campervan and the house. And each Barbie had extensive wardrobes. They even had shoes! (My Barbie had a pair but the cat used them for batting practice). When I arrived home, I couldn’t tell Barbie she really wasn’t the fashionista anymore.
tracy wedding
June 10, 2015 at 8:06 pmmy memories were of my friends having Barbies and I would go to their house to play as My parents would not allow me to have one
Michelle V
June 11, 2015 at 6:54 amMy favourite memory of Barbie would be the year I got the Exercise Barbie for Christmas (when I still believed in Santa!) The Barbie itself was dressed in a green leotard, with leg warmers and sweat bands. It came with an exercise bike, a gym locker, a towel and a set on tiny hand weights.
I must’ve played for months and months with it. The memories are all so clear, and like it was yesterday. I loved that Barbie so much.
My sister got the Peaches And Cream Barbie, which had the beautiful elegant gown and we would sit for hours in the lounge room and play.
I’d love my daughter to create some of these magical moments for herself.
Thanks for the chance.
Kim
June 13, 2015 at 9:55 pmI had a beautiful Hawaian Barbie with a lei and hula skirt, she was so beautiful, I kept her on the shelf near my bed to look at and I played with my more normal Barbies instead, as she was just so perfect.
Tiffany
June 14, 2015 at 11:08 pmMy earliest memory of barbie was when my grandparents bought the barbie bus for me! It was yellow and I was the coolest kid on the block! Few years after that, my parents bought me the speedboat and all I can say is I had the fondest memories with that boat, used to actually drive on water and all! My mum also made me clothes and accessories for my barbies as we couldn’t afford much. But I treasured everything to do with my barbies! Now I am a mum of a 6yo princess, who adores barbie like I did/still do! I’m so glad I can share a childhood passion of mine with her and I love surprising her with new stuff for barbie or new barbies! She got the horse stable one for Christmas last year and was stoked!
Ann-Marie
June 16, 2015 at 10:53 amI wasn’t really into Barbie as a kid – except for one special Barbie. The one from Barbie and The Rockers.
See, my parents divorced very amicably when I was very young, but due to dad’s music career as lead guitar, I really only visited him for 2wks each year, and saw him whenever he passed through town on gigs.
But then Barbie started her own band and showed me the true magic of Barbie – that she really can be anything important in your life! My mum bought this Barbie for my birthday and I took her everywhere, as she was my connection with my dad. Every time Dad sent me a recording, I would play it with Barbie singing along. It was like our private rock band; just Dad, Barbie and I.
When my kids find a Barbie that they connect to, be it rock star or freckles, I’ll be right there sharing that magic with them.
Jane H
June 16, 2015 at 3:32 pmBarbie was always the one toy on my mind she was the whole package pretty, stylish, fashionable, smart, confident, happy and FUN! My barbie world contained everything from sports cars, horses, clothes, heels and of course Ken. If I went shopping with mum guess what aisle I’d be in …….barbie and I’d usually get one at Christmas if I was lucky my sister teases me about my barbie obsession today but I’m not embarrassed so what I loved her she was perfect and while paying with her she gives me great enthusiasm. My favorite barbie was costume ball she was absolutely a little girls dream, I still own her today! I’m 31 this year and still own my barbies I just cannot pass them on they are precious memories I like to hold onto.
Stacey Shailer
June 16, 2015 at 10:04 pmI’ll never forget the day I discovered that my little brother had given my entire Barbie collection a hair cut, I was devastated!
Karla Oleinikoff
June 17, 2015 at 10:57 pmI was absolutely desperate for Peaches and Cream Barbie when I was 8. I wrote multiple letters to Santa, and had my fingers crossed for months. When I opened her up on Christmas Day, I was over the moon, ignored all my other presents, opened up her box and played with her for hours.