We all love a good old fashion stalking session of the “Coming Soon” and “Landing Soon” products on the Kmart website. These are the products that haven’t hit stores or online just yet, but they will be ready very soon.
The new doll in town
This week Kmart shared one “Coming Soon” product that is already proving to be incredibly popular – Baby Charlie with Down Syndrome.
These Kmart Charlie dolls come in both a girl and a boy option and retail for $15. They each come with a soft body to cuddle, a cute little outfit and soft hair to comb.
What an adorable new addition to the doll shelves!
Kmart hits the mark for disability representation
This isn’t the first inclusive doll Kmart has impressed us with. Before Kmart’s Charlie Dolls, Kmart also released a line of dolls with disabilities or impairments, including one doll in a wheelchair, one with vision impairment, and one with a hearing impairment.
At Kmart we want to foster a culture that is inclusive, and a big part of that is reflecting the rich diversity in the community around us,” Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Kmart Group, Marcelle Harrison told A Current Affair.
“We’ve had so much positive feedback from the community.”
Kudos to Kmart for bringing Baby Charlie with Down Syndrome dolls to the shelves and giving them the visual representation our world needs.
Mum’s bright idea for her daughter
In addition to the retail giant, one mum is also paving the way for inclusivity with her own line of dolls she makes and sells on Etsy.
Back in 2018, UK Mum Clare Tawell couldn’t find any dolls or toys with hearing aids for her deaf daughter. So she started to make them. She now sells the range at Bright Ears and is inundated with requests!
We absolutely love these dolls. Some have cochlear implants, others have cleft lips. She’s even modified the dolls to give them strawberry birthmarks, insulin pumps, nasal cannulas, and heart operation scars.
Clare also has a range of inclusive Elf on the Shelf dolls (sold out now, but a great idea for next year’s Elf adventures!). How clever!
Modern day dolls hit the mark
Dolls have certainly come a long way since our own childhood collection of blond-haired, big-boobed, tiny-waists Barbies! Kudos to Kmart, Clare and the other small companies designing dolls that represent all abilities.
We’ve written about other dolls that have hit the mark for visual representation including these body positive dolls and Barbie’s “Shero” Range.
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How to order them?
Jump onto the Kmart website or head in store. Enjoy!