Diverse, interracial dollhouse families: Reader Q&A

After featuring Georgette’s post on 6 toymakers making diverse interracial dolls for kids, Facebook fan Melissa asked us if we know of any interracial dollhouse families.

I love this question. So many of us want to bring more diversity into all our kids’ doll collections, whether you have children whose heritage is Asian, African or Latino and they want dolls that reflect themselves back to them; or you have Caucasian children, like my daughter, who has racial and ethnic diversity among her closest friends and family members, and loves surrounding herselves with dolls that reflect her world.

That said, most dollhouse families you find are not going to be interracial per se, as in a blended family. But you can definitely find sets of dollhouse dolls of different ethnicities which can always be mixed and matched.

Here are a few options I hope work for you!

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Related: Why we need #diversebooks

Small World Toys

They make an African American dollhouse family and a Hispanic-American dollhouse family (shown here) and I love that they come with grandparents too — as all sets should! I also really like the Waldorf style faces, in which you only see the eyes, which allows children to get creative and attribute whatever emotions to the dolls they want.

Fisher Price Loving Family

The Loving Family Figures diverse dollhouse families from Fisher Price are probably the most traditional in terms of the plastic, more mass-produced look, poseable construction cheerful faces. They also come with very contemporary clothing and accessories (roller blades! Helmet!) which older kids in particular will like. Though I admit I take issue with the description that “Mom’s heading out for the day with baby [while] Dad’s brought home his briefcase and laptop for work.” Well, in some families.

Plan Toys

Another favorite brand of mine — our own first dollhouse was from Plan Toys — make all their toys toys ethically and with eco-friendly processes from sustainable rubberwood. I love that their diverse dollhouse dolls can be purchased as sets, like this Ethnic dollhouse family (the Waldorf style makes them less specifically identifiable) which comes in several styles with different clothing.

If you want a truly diverse family, buy them as individual dolls and put them together. This way you can have a Hispanic girl doll, a Caucasian dad doll, and an Asian mom doll or African-American mom doll.

Then again, she could be an aunt, right? Or a Godmother? Or a youthful grandmother? Hey — whatever you want her to be. That’s the joy of creative play in the first place.

Hape

Hape is one of the largest producers of sustainably made toys in the world, and another company I’ve always liked for their commitment to natural woods, safe products for kids, and social responsibility and programs that give back to children around the world. I’m happy to share that they offer diverse dollhouse families to go with their cute dollhouses. The Black dollhouse family features really charming faces and I love the bright, colorful but simple clothing. There’s also an Asian dollhouse family available.

Tip: if you use a browser extension like Honey, you’ll automatically see who’s selling them for the best price on Amazon.

Once Upon a TreeHouse

Hit Etsy to see what’s up in the handmade world of dollhouse accessories and you have so many incredible options! I love this shop featuring the most adorable, diverse dollhouse families, all handmade from soft materials in Latvia. They’re still poseable though, which is why you’ll find a soccer star, gymnast, piano player and scientist, all complete with accessories. You can also order dads, moms, kids and babies (zomg the babies!) all individually and select the ethnicity you prefer.

Check delivery dates to be sure you can make Christmas or Hanukkah delivery; or visit your local indie toy store