Tag Archives: Toy Like Me

London Book Fair's Jacks Thomas praises the book industry's increasing diversity of characters and themes as "a joy", so can it inform a step change in the toys that children play with, too?

Journalist, campaigner and the brains behind the Toy Like Me operation, Rebecca Atkinson is hoping that the colourful new take on wheelchair toys - used to carry cuddly animals - will help children better engage with the subject of ‘diffability.’

It arrives less than a year after LEGO issued the world’s first wheelchair mini-figure at the 2016 Nuremberg toy Fair in response to pressure from the parent-led group #ToyLikeMe.

The full collection of photographs is available to view at the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital and online at toylikeme.org.

The site showcases the best toys and games out there which reflect disabilities and difference.

Atkinson's campaign to get better disability representation in the toy box has caused changes across the industry in the last year.

The LEGO City Fun in the Park set, featuring the Minifigure, has already sold out on LEGO.com.

The funds will go towards launching a website resource celebrating toys which represent disability has been successful.

Through Hope Toys, Maria Kentley creates bespoke dolls to represent a disabled audience with a host of accessories such as personalised wheelchairs. And just over one year since launch, business is booming.

"It will speak volumes to children, disabled or otherwise, the world over.”