Lego: Disabled Sussex girl says new toys are amazing

A disabled girl who wrote to Lego asking for better representation in their toys said a new figure with a limb difference was “amazing”. Eight-year-old Sofia from Sussex was born without a left hand, and said she felt unrepresented by the toys. The firm is releasing a new range of toys featuring diverse characters, and surprised Sofia with an announcement on BBC Breakfast. A Lego designer said the new toys were made “to represent the real world”.

Before she found out about the new toys, Sofia told BBC Breakfast: “You don’t feel like you’re represented and there’s no-one like you in these toys.” Fenella Charity, design director at Lego Friends, said the firm had spent two years planning the new range. Ms Charity said her team was “inspired” by Sofia’s letter, as well those from other children across the world. “It makes what we’re doing real,” she said. “In the design team, when we see these letters that have been crafted so carefully by the children that write them, it’s really inspiring to us, and definitely makes us inspired to make a difference.”

The updated range features characters with new skin tones, cultures, physical and non-visible disabilities and neurodiversity.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-63427962