Given the chance, young boys will try out dolls, and girls will play with cars and building blocks. It’s even possible to encourage the two sexes to play together without too much moaning, says Lauren Spinner of the University of Kent in the UK, lead author of a study in Springer’s journal Sex Roles. She believes that if children’s magazines could use more diverse photographs and articles, this could help challenge and disrupt many of society’s long-held gender-typical choices about the toys and playmates that are appropriate for children of different sexes.