Why Representation in Toys Matters: What the Research Says

The short answer: children start noticing physical differences such as skin color in the first months of life, and what they see every day shapes what feels familiar. Toys are part of what they see. Toys that show many kinds of people help children recognize themselves and get comfortable with faces unlike their own. Toys are not a complete answer on their own. They work best alongside books, real relationships, and adults who talk openly about differences.

When do babies start to notice skin color?

Earlier than most parents expect. In a 2005 study published in Developmental Science, newborns showed no preference between faces of their own ethnic group and others, but three-month-olds looked longer at faces from their own group (Kelly et al., 2005). The researchers concluded the preference is learned in the first three months, from the faces babies see most.

By the preschool years, children are sorting people by visible traits, and by around five or six many children can name their own racial group. The University of Pittsburgh P.R.I.D.E. Program summarizes this research by age.

Does what a child sees actually change anything?

Yes, at least for face recognition. Babies are born able to tell apart faces from any group, then lose some of that ability for unfamiliar groups by about nine months. In a 2011 study, infants who looked through picture books of faces from another group for about an hour in total between six and nine months kept the ability to tell those faces apart (Heron-Delaney et al., PLoS One).

Picture books are not toys, and face recognition is not friendship. But the finding points in a clear direction: everyday exposure shapes what feels familiar, and it starts very young.

Why do toys in particular matter?

Toys are what children handle, name, and build stories around for hours. The American Academy of Pediatrics describes play as a key way children build social-emotional, language, and thinking skills (Yogman et al., 2018). When the people in that play look like many kinds of people, two things happen:

• Children see themselves. A child who finds their own skin tone, hair, or family shape in the toy basket gets a quiet message that they belong in the story.
• Children get used to difference. A child who plays with many kinds of faces every day treats that variety as normal rather than surprising.

What can toys not do?

A toy cannot replace real relationships or conversation. Children are already noticing differences, so staying quiet does not keep the subject away. It just leaves children to draw their own conclusions from what they see. The toy opens the door. The adult walks through it. Our guide on how to talk to your child about differences using toys covers what to say.

One diverse doll in a basket of identical ones also does less than you might hope. Variety works when it is ordinary, not when a single toy stands in for everyone else.

What should parents look for?

• More than one skin tone, and more than one of each, so no figure is the odd one out
• Adults and children, so kids can build families, not just groups of friends
• Pieces that recombine, so children can build families that match their own
• Faces that are friendly and neutral rather than exaggerated

We make the 48-Piece Family Play Set with these in mind: adults and children in four skin tones, heads, bodies, and legs that connect with hidden magnets, and Activity Cards in English, French and Spanish. For a broader view of the category, see what multicultural toys are.

Frequently asked questions

Why does representation in toys matter?

Children learn what is familiar from what they see every day, starting in infancy. Toys that show many kinds of people help children see themselves and treat differences as normal.

At what age do children notice race?

Research shows three-month-old infants already look longer at faces from their own group, and preschoolers sort people by visible traits. Many children can name their own racial group by five or six.

Can toys reduce prejudice in young children?

Toys alone are not proven to reduce prejudice. Exposure to many kinds of faces helps, and it works best combined with books, real relationships, and open conversation with adults.

Do children play with diverse toys as much as other toys?

Children choose toys for how they play, not for what message they carry. Diverse toys that are fun to build and move get played with. Ones set apart as special often do not.

Sources: Kelly, D. J., et al. (2005). Three-month-olds, but not newborns, prefer own-race faces. Developmental Science, 8(6), F31 to F36. Heron-Delaney, M., et al. (2011). Perceptual training prevents the emergence of the other race effect during infancy. PLoS One, 6(5), e19858. Yogman, M., et al. (2018). The Power of Play. Pediatrics, 142(3), e20182058.