Today for Things I Love Thursday is the beautiful Friends Forever Girls dolls. My granddaughter will receive one of these great dolls for her first birthday. I believe that she will be delighted.

Let me tell you a bit about these beautiful dolls. The Friends Forever Girls won an award for Dr. Toys Best Children product in 2008. The 18 inch dolls were created for girls to have a best friend in. Through these wonderful dolls a girl can build her self esteem as well as learn how to be a best friend. The Friends Forever dolls are the brain child of a mother who simply wanted to find a doll who could help foster morality, friendship and being a girl for her daughter. When she was unable to find the perfect doll she decided to create her own. Thus the Friends Forever Girls were created.

The doll that I choose for my granddaughter is named Natalie.  She is quite a stunning little gal with her backpack and playful clothing. She reminds me of my granddaughter and daughter as she grew up. Natalie comes with a book to let you know her entire story. What fun it will be for a little girl or an older girl to have a friend to share her thoughts with.

I also love the butterfly promise that the Forever Friends Girls company has created for the dolls and girls who owns the doll to share.

AnniesHome

Well move over Barbie and American Girl because a few new girls have moved into the neighborhood. The Friends Forever Girls, are real girls for real girls. They are ethnically diverse and each one with her own unique look and personality. The 18 inch-tall vinyl dolls have moveable arms and legs and were crafted to represent the realistic body of a young girl.

For long-time friends and Wisconsin natives Kristi Necochea and Lisa Quakenbush the idea of giving back is at the core of their business philosophy. Their goal is to model a set of core values that inspires young girls. Friendship…character…community, which is the positive message the Friendship Forever Girls want to bring to little girls play.

The Toy Guru crew played with Reina (which means “Queen” in Spanish). Her bio is impressive; she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up because of her love of animals. She understands that she has to work really hard in school because you need good grades to be an animal doctor. She recently moved to this new neighborhood, where she met all the Friends Forever Girls!

The other dolls’ stories come to life through a series of books that take the reader through the challenging and exciting adventures of everyday life. Young readers can understand and relate to the age-appropriate book series (ages 6+) that use contemporary stories and introduces the Butterfly Promises. Kids can also go onto Friends Forever Girls.com to play in secured areas.

Be the best I can be
Use kindness and be fair
Tell the truth
Treat others the way I want to be treated
Encourage my friends
Respect myself and others
Find the courage to do what’s right
Listen to others, and remember…
You can do it!

 Chiff.com

About the Author: Mary Rose is a Mommy, a writer and an early childhood educator who believes in learning through play and the value of good toys.

March 23, 2009

I consider the DC Metro Area pretty culturally diverse place and want the things in our environment to reflect the world we live in.  Ever since Little Miss Techie was little, I’ve strived to find dolls that reflect her Chinese-American heritage and our mixed family.  So far we haven’t had much luck.  She has a baby Yang Corolle doll that was bought before her little brother was born and then a Cabbage Patch with dark hair, eyes, and tanned skin. 

We’ve been on the hunt for a more grown up doll for her now that she’s getting older so I was thrilled to be introduced to the Friends Forever Girls Dolls collection.  The 6 Friends Forever Girls are ethnicallydiverse, fun loving and have their own special and unique personalities. Thedolls come to life through a series of books that take the reader through the challenging and exciting adventures of growing up girl.

We were sent Reina, a tan skinned dark haired beauty with beautiful brown eyes, who is already much loved by Little Miss Techie.  Little Miss Techie loves that Reina is bigger than her other dolls (18”) and carried a backpack very similar to her own.  She loves that Reina arrived wearing a pink shirt, capri jeans with the pink fringe, and has a red shawl in case it gets cold.  Reina also came with The First Day of Forever Book and a Butterfly Promises bookmark.  There was also a card in the box that told us a little bit about Reina like how she loves animals and wants to be a veterinarian soshe works “really hard in school because I need good grades to be an animal doctor. Last year I got mostly A’s.”

Little Miss Techie and I have enjoyed reading The First Day of Forever chapter book that came with Reina to learn more about the girls, their personalities, and friendships.  I love the positive messages of friendship, individualism, family, and pride in their culture that the girls represent.  Each of the other girls (Marlee, Natalie, Nika, Kristina, and Kyleen) serve as strong role models that are suitable for any child. The Butterfly Promise Pledge also reinforces positive self esteem and encourages respect. 

I have a feeling that we will be purchasing more Friends Forever Girl dolls for Little Miss Techie. I’d love to add Kristina- the Asian American doll- to her collection so she’ll have an older doll that is more representative of her.

Leticia

BeingSavvyWashington

I have three daughters. Our house is full of pink. And purple. There are dresses and skirts. And some lace and ruffles too.

Oh yes, and dolls. Over the years we’ve had rag dolls, baby dolls, princess dolls, Barbie dolls, and dolls with pieces so tiny you have to squint to be able to tell what they are. Then there are the doll accessories – the strollers, and bassinets, playpens, cribs, high chairs, swings and strollers.

At times I’ve thought the girls have better ‘baby’ equipment than we did. 

As they’ve grown older, we’ve had to set limits and specify which dolls are ‘okay’ to play with and which ones are simply unacceptable. And they’ve been pretty good about abiding by those rules. And I’ve been glad that there are options out there for dolls that can be a positive experience for the girls to play and pretend with. Like the Friends Forever Girls.

What they are:

The Friends Forever Girls 18” dolls and related books include characters who each have different personalities but are all friends. The Girls live near each other in a US town in present day and deal with many of the issues elementary aged girls are dealing with, such as friendship, insecurity, jealousy, and responsibility.

The Girls were created by a mom – who was looking for “a high quality doll for my daughter that was fun to play with, that was dressed in hip but age-appropriate clothes, and that could be used as a tool to help build self-respect and foster responsibility.” Not able to find something already existing out there, she started her own company and the Friends Forever Girls were born.

There are currently four Friends Forever Girls, with two additional Girls coming soon. The existing friends include Marlee and Natalie (who have been best friends since they were little), Reina (who just moved to the neighborhood) and Nika. The two new friends will be Kristina and Kyleen. As a group the Girls are ethnically diverse and each has her own unique and special personality.

Each doll is modeled after one of the Friends Forever Girls characters, down to her personal style and accessories. They each come with a copy of the first Friends Forever Girls book, called “The First Day of Forever” – a chapter book that introduces three of the characters.

Thanks to Mom Blog Marketing, we received one of the Friends Forever Girls dolls, along with a copy of the book.

The doll that we were sent is Natalie, who is described as an athletic girl who has a pet fish instead of a dog or cat as she would like, because her dad and older brother are allergic. Natalie has long blonde hair and blue eyes, and comes dressed in track pants, tennis shoes, shirt, vest and carries a duffel bag.

Here’s my our take on them:

I started off by giving my six-year-old the book so that she would be familiar with (and excited about) the characters when she saw the actual doll. Trying to decide which of my daughters to give the doll to was a bit difficult, but was made easier since one of them was being punished at the time. So my middle daughter got to play with Natalie first and now they share her together.

The quality of the doll is amazing – the hair feels smooth and silky and came styled with a couple of small braids in it. Her vividly blue eyes have actual lashes, and her features are very delicate and realistic-looking. The clothes are also very high quality with incredible detail – even the side pocket on the track pants is real, to my daughter’s amazement:

Both of the older girls love playing with Natalie, and even my youngest wants to get in on the fun. We kept the box that the doll arrived in, and store her in there when she’s not being played with, so we can keep her in good shape. I’ve seen on the Friends Forever Girls website that you can purchase additional outfits for the dolls, but for now they’re having fun with taking off and putting on the vest accessory and having Natalie ‘carry’ all sorts of things in her duffel bag.

My six-year-old has finished the book, and I’ve been regaled with all kinds of information about the characters, how they know each other, and what they’re like. I love that the Friends Forever Girls are ‘role models’ that I am comfortable with my daughters emulating, and they simply love that the characters are fun and relevant to their own lives.

The bottom line:

The Friends Forever Girls dolls are high-quality, attractive and fun for girls once they outgrow the ‘baby’ dolls and are looking for toys that they can relate to more as they hit elementary school age. They are very appropriate in terms of how they dress and appear, and their behavior (through the books and website) also models ideals and values that are important to me. The Forever Girls™ Pledge probably says it best –

JustAMomsTakeOnThings

Deb