While those are fun tasks, there is much more to Barbie games than most parents realize. If you decide to bite the plastic bullet and spend an afternoon playing Barbie games with your youngster, you can expect her to be playing one of the top three Barbies games enjoyed by young girls.

Dress Up

The most common game, especially with younger girls, is a simple game of dress up. Barbies come with a huge assortment of outfits, and there is nothing more rewarding than putting together an outfit and seeing the final product on your very own Barbie doll. Children learning to dress themselves might actually use Barbie dolls as a way to practice the critical skills, but for the most part, dressing up Barbie is just plain fun.

If you want to give your child a special treat, you don't need to buy her a new Barbie doll to add to the collection. Rather than spending your money on one doll with one outfit, surprise her with five new outfits that she can mix and match for her current Barbie doll. You might just have a young fashionista in the making.

Character Play

Once your child starts developing an active imagination, you can expect to hear voices coming from her Barbies - provided by your child, of course. This game is character play where each Barbie is assigned a role, or many roles, in an unfolding drama. The Princess Barbie needs help from the Friendly Barbie to defeat the Evil Barbie in time to hop in the Barbie Jeep and pick up Ken for a hot Barbie date.

When you play with your child during this sort of Barbie game, be sure you listen and understand the game and story before jumping in. Some children become incredibly agitated when the story changes unexpectedly. You might think it's funny to add Super Barbie to the mix, but she'll likely see it as an intrusion. Rather than grabbing a doll and making a new character, get her instructions on which character you should be in the current game she's playing.

Online Barbie Games

The newest form of Barbie game takes your child online. There are countless Barbie games online that let your child dress up Barbie in more outfits than you can imagine. The latest fashions are available on websites featuring dress up games, and with new outfits and dolls added daily, it's not hard to see why spending time online with Barbie is a new favorite activity of young girls.

Playing online Barbie games is simple enough. You should let your daughter have creative control, but you can encourage even more creativity by making up a story about why the doll is wearing a particular outfit or dressing different dolls for different roles in a story she's been working on. Then you can print the completed Barbies and have custom puppets ready to take on their designed characters.