Maplelea Girls: Canadian Dolls for Canadian Girls #MapleleaLove

Canadian girls.  What exactly does it mean to be a Canadian girl?

I asked my little one what she thought it meant to be a Canadian girl.  My eight year old said that Canadian girls are smart, kind, active, helpful, and unique.  I thought it was sweet that those were the first adjectives that came to her mind.

Being unique is something my Little One is proud of.  She is proud of her heritage.  She is Canadian.  Both Hubby and I were born in Canada, but Hubby’s ancestry is Scottish, English, Irish.  My parents have been in Canada for most of their lives, but my father was born in Trinidad (his ancestors were from China), and my mother was born in the Philippines.

Little One is definitely “different” when it comes to her cultural background — especially on the beautiful island we live on.

The one thing Little One has commented on numerous times has been the fact that she hasn’t seen any dolls that look like her.

As I looked around her bedroom, I realized that she was right.  All of her dolls were either blonde and blue-eyed, or brunette and brown or green-eyed.

When Little One showed me the Maplelea Girls website, she was so excited to tell me that Maplelea had a doll named Saila.

Mom! She is so beautiful! And, she has similar features as me! I’m so excited!

Finally, Canadian dolls for Canadian girls!

Maplelea dolls have been around for some time now, and they are great role models for Canadian girls. They’re fun, unique individuals who are friendly, caring, smart, active, and share their diverse cultural backgrounds.

Canadian geography is also learned because each Maplelea girl comes from a different part of Canada.

Each Maplelea Girl is special, but what makes Saila super special to Little One is that they share similar physical traits. This to my eight year old is very exciting, because she has never had a doll that looked like her (in skin tone, eye colour, and hair colour).

Yes, that’s our puppy, Cupcake making a lot of noise in the background. She really wanted to be in the video, but she tends to like to rip apart Little One’s toys! Little One won’t let Cupcake anywhere near Saila for that reason.

Little One enjoys checking out all the accessories on the Maplelea website.

Yes, Little One realizes that though she and Saila are both Canadian, she has Scottish, Irish, English, Filipino, Chinese, Trinidadian roots, and Saila is from Iqaluit, Nunavut. She thinks it’s really cool to read all about Saila’s interests and culture.

We also happen to live on an island in Northern Ontario where quite a few of Little  One’s friends are First Nations.  Saila is proud of her Inuit heritage, just as Little One’s friends are proud of their Ojibway heritage. Little  One got so excited reading all about Saila, and screamed, “Saila likes bannock! I like bannock! I even made bannock with my friends!”

Maplelea does a great job in representing Canadian girls.  A range of cultural backgrounds are represented, and what I like is that both rural and urban girls are represent as well.

Little One is a farm kid, and she is proud to tell people that she lives on a farm.  That’s another reason why she loves Maplelea dolls.  Each one is special and unique – Just like her.

Saila accompanies Little One when she feeds the animals on the farm, plays on her trampoline, and Little  One even takes her to the beach, restaurants, etc.  Everywhere Little One goes, Saila goes.

When Little One was in Junior Kindergarten, she told me that some of her peers made fun of her because she was different.  There were some hurtful words said to her, but the experience taught her many lessons. Back then, Little One was upset that she was different in both heritage and physical appearance from the rest of her cohorts, but now she is fiercely proud of her differences and says they are what make her unique.

I love that Maplelea celebrates our country’s spirit and identity with their beautiful dolls. Finally, Canadian dolls for Canadian girls!

To learn more about Maplelea dolls, visit their website and connect with Maplelea on Twitter and Facebook!

This post is part of the YummyMummyClub.ca and the Maplelea #MapleleaLove sponsored program. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsors.