More and more, we are realizing how the simple act of playing can play a crucial role in the formation of human beings, transmitting and developing values such as empathy, collaboration, friendship and acceptance.
Playing is such a healthy and valuable activity, which can help children improve their awareness of the world and people around them.
With this in mind, many toy companies have decided to give more visibility to both children with disabilities and children of different ethnicities, having them represented in their toys, in genuine versions, with maximum detail.
When playing, children have the opportunity to make a link between play and reality, giving them the possibility to develop skills to better understand the world.
And when she has contact with these inclusive toys, a welcoming with sensitivity to differences is awakened.
These toys draw children's attention to differences, promoting a sensitive understanding of the world.
Around 150 million children in the world have some kind of disability, and it is deeply sad that they cannot see themselves represented in their toys, which directly affects their self-esteem and leaves them feeling invisible in front of the world.
Not to mention that many children suffer a lot from racism, whether because of their skin color, ethnicity or religion.
Are you curious to know some of these inclusive toys? Check out:
Seeking a redefinition of its dolls, the Barbie brand has included in its line of dolls, characters with vitiligo, prostheses and wheelchair users, as well as different ethnicities and biotypes...
According to Kim Culmore, Barbie's Vice President of Design "We want to better represent the people and the world children see around them."
And this representation has been highly praised for creating these versions with rich details, to optimize the experience.
In 1960, the first black Barbie was launched, but it was in 2016 that Mattel decided to embrace this cause and promote diversity in its different shades and ethnicities.
The Lego brand was also awakened to this very significant cause, by launching an inclusive line called Braille Bricks, dedicated to people with visual impairments.
In its building blocks, there are numbers and letters embedded in braille.
Another super famous item of the brand is the line of dolls that already had super heroes, professionals and now wheelchair users too.
A great frustration for children who suffer from colorblindness is the fact that they are a joke because they have a different view of colors.
And to avoid this embarrassment and promote more safety for these children, there are exclusive lines of colored pencils on the market for the colorblind.
Each pencil has a code and with it, it is possible to paint without constraints.
These same codes are found in many toys so that children who suffer from color blindness can play, without any kind of embarrassment with other children.
A Spanish company called Miniland created a collection of Down syndrome dolls.
This collection, called Miniland Dolls, was designed to bring awareness and representation to children and their games, with great respect and sensitivity.
There are four dolls (two black and two white), boy or girl, with Down syndrome.
This wheelchair is a reproduction of the same one that the incredible athlete Aaron Fotheringham used to perform adapted Skate and BMX maneuvers.
Hot Wheels, which is always a fever among children, sought to represent and show that it is possible to have fun and even perform radical maneuvers, overcoming each day, the challenges that different types of disabilities impose.
May we have more and more companies that commit to being mediators in this process of normalization and respect, from childhood, giving more visibility to these groups that so need it.