Review & Giveaway: Hearts for Hearts Girls

My little girl is 3 1/2. She likes everything pink, and "fancy", and princess-y. I think that's pretty normal. She may always be a girly girl. That's fine with me.

I'm trying to be careful about making sure she knows that she's more than just cute though, that she can be things, and do things.

In my opinion, many of the toys aimed at little girls are pretty superficial, and many of the dolls look too "grown up." Where are the dolls that look like little girls, and center around something other than shopping, makeup, or pop culture?

When I was contacted by My Blog Spark about reviewing a doll from the Hearts for Hearts Girls doll line, I jumped at the chance.

These dolls look like real little girls, each of a different nationality. Each doll comes with a story booklet detailing her background, where she came from, and what altruistic thing she's been doing to help her community.

Here are the bios of the dolls, as per the information I received:

Meet the six Hearts For Hearts Girls:

• Meet Consuelo from Mexico City. Colorful and warm, Consuelo provides aid to hungry children who are homeless and live on the streets near her parents´ bakery.
  
• Meet Lilian of Belarus. Determined Lilian provides aid to girls whose parents must find work in the big city and are forced to leave their children with orphanages.
  
• Meet Dell from the heart of Kentucky´s Appalachian Mountains. Dell creates music and knitwear to share with others in need of warm clothing.
  
• Meet Rahel of Ethiopia. Rahel, who dreams of becoming a doctor so that she can make a real difference for people in her region, journeys with her family into the wilderness of Ethiopia to help bring back aid to her community.
  
• Meet Tipi from Laos. Based on a real girl who shares her art and storytelling with others through dancing, drawing, and puppetry, Tipi leads her school in a mural contest in hopes of winning much-needed books for her class.
  
• Meet Nahji who hails from Assam, India. Brave Nahji breaks tradition to bring courage and education to the girls who work in the tea fields of India.

There's an online component as well. Girls can unlock games and activities on the website, read their doll's diary to find out more about her, and more.

Finally, each time a doll is purchased, a donation is made to World Vision.

There are additional outfits to buy, and they are inspired by actual events, and traditional dress in the girl's country.

My thoughts:

This is the kind of toy I can get behind. Aesthetically, they're setting a realistic message, and I like that there is a possibility of finding a doll that looks similar to your daughter. I think the back stories are a neat idea, and as a homeschooling family, I can't help but suggest that they might open up an interest in other cultures.

I like the focus on what the girls are doing in their community. I think it sends a positive message to girls, that they can make a difference, in their families, their communities, and the world.

The dolls are reasonably priced at around $30, which is always a plus, and I think they'd make a great gift for the upcoming holiday season.

We received Consuelo, the Mexican doll. My daughter fell in love with her immediately, kept saying how pretty she was. V and I have nothing but positive things to say about her.


My Blog Spark has offered to host a giveaway here at Cheerios Underfoot. One lucky commenter will receive a prize package containing:

• One Hearts For Hearts Girl, accompanied by a friendship bracelet, story booklet, donation for girls in need through partner World Vision and a special product code your daughter can use to unlock a free membership to the Hearts For Hearts Girls website, which provides access to the "myHeart" page and an array of games and activities.
• An outfit that is authentic to one of the Hearts for Hearts Girls´ culture, in which your daughter can also dress her doll

For your first, mandatory entry, go check out the Hearts for Hearts Girls dolls, and leave a comment telling me which doll you think your daughter, (or niece, or little sister, or granddaughter,) would love to have, and why.

For additional, optional entries, you may do any or all of the following. (Please leave a comment for each.)
"Like" the Hearts for Hearts Girls FB page.
Follow my blog.
Follow me on Twitter.
Tweet/Facebook/or Blog about the giveaway. (Once per day.)

This giveaway will end at 10 pm central time on 9/22/11. Don't forget to leave a way to be contacted if you are the lucky winner!

Disclosure: The Hearts For Hearts Girls doll, and information have been provided by Playmates Toys through MyBlogSpark."