ToyQueen.Com

Adora Dolls, based in California, has been designing and producing handmade dolls and accessories for young children for 20 years. A few years ago I created a video at the Adora dolls booth at Toy Fair, which you can view below.

When I was at Toy Fair just a few weeks ago this year, I learned about their Designed by Kids for Kids program. Recently there has been a lot of discussion on-line about dolls and the lack of ethnic diversity when purchasing them, despite hefty price tags between $75-$100. A huge trend at Toy Fair this year also related to personalization, giving the chance for children to input their own creativity, frequently through accessorizing.

This contest sponsored by Adora dolls allows young children the opportunity to submit their personal designs and work with a doll designer to have a vested interest and creative control in real process of designing and distributing a fashion doll.

Last year’s winner, an 8-year-old girl named Kayla, entered the contest. Her designs were chosen and in just a few months, her doll Lola will be available for purchase. A special edition outfit can be purchased that was designed by Kayla for Lola that includes a panda themed fleece, pink knit top and black and white leggings.

Adora Dolls is currently taking submissions for this year’s contest. The top 10 entries will be selected by the Adora Dolls Design Committee and posted on the Adora Dolls Facebook page for Voting (i.e. “LIKES”). “Voting” will take place from 4/1/14 through 4/30/13. The fashion design with the most “LIKES” will be produced in the 2015 Adora Doll collection and a donation will be made in the winning entry to the charity of their choice.

Participants are asked to email the Adora Design Committee at designedbykidsforkids@adoradolls.com with the following information by 3/31/14.

Name:
Contact Email:
Age:
Description of your Design (200 words or less):
Inspiration of your Design (200 words or less):
6 photos of your design concept or idea:
Your favorite Charity for the donation:

To help promote the contest, Adora dolls will provide one winner from ToyQueen.com with an 18 inch Adora Friends doll of their choosing. For those of you who are inspired to enter the contest, you can secure extra entries in the giveaway for encouraging and helping a child to enter.  Please note that if the winner of the giveaway chooses Lola, the doll will not be available until the end of March 2014. Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway here:a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here’s a video from a few years ago that highlights some of the beautiful Adora dolls.