Girls can be superheroes too! is the rallying call for a global competition being launched by Arklu, who have teamed up with US non-profit organisation Brave Girls Want, which will see entrants aged 10 and under asked to design a superhero outfit for the Lottie™  doll.

The Lottie™ ‘Design a Superhero Outfit Competition’ is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for one lucky child to see their design come to life, with the winning superhero outfit being manufactured and made commercially available in Autumn 2014. The winning child will also see their original artwork design, first name, age, city and country on the back of the outfit packaging, in addition to winning the entire range of Lottie dolls, accessories and outfits.

A wholesome antidote to other leading doll brands, Lottie™ has been purposefully designed under expert guidance to both look and dress as a regular child – a childlike body shape, no make-up, jewellery or high-heels. Lottie™ also has the ability to stand on her own two feet (always a useful life skill for all girls, big and small).

Lucie Follett, Creative Director of Arklu, explains “Lottie™ dolls motto is ‘Be Bold, Be Brave, Be You’ and many of the Lottie™ dolls explore inspiring, empowering and adventurous themes, so this competition is a really fantastic way to build on these strong ‘pro girl’ values. We know that there is an acknowledged lack of strong female superheroes out there, so this is why we thought a campaign with the message that girls can be superheroes too! is very much needed.”

Entering the competition is very straightforward, and requires parental permission.

Parents and guardians are asked to download a colouring page template from the superhero contest app on the Lottie dolls Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/lottiedolls so that kids can use this as a starting point for their design, as well as describing the superpower abilities that their design has. Parents are then required to upload their child’s design onto the superhero contest Facebook app and fill in a form to grant parental permission for their child’s entry to be considered for the competition. Full terms and conditions of the competition are to be found at: http://www.lottie.com/superhero-outfit-design-competition-terms-conditions/

The hashtag #girlsuperhero will be used on social media to promote the competition, and entries will be displayed on a dedicated Pinterest folder http://www.pinterest.com/lottiedolls/girl-superhero-outfit-design-competition/

Entries will be judged by a panel including at least one independent panellist member of the Brave Girls Alliance, and judged on their creativity and originality, fun and overall ‘kid-appeal’, as well as keeping true to the ‘pro girl’ values that underpin both the Lottie™ brand and the Brave Girls Alliance.

Closing date for entries is 7th May 2014 and the winner will be notified confidentially in May 2014, with the public announcement being made when the winning outfit goes on sale in October 2014 – just in time for the International Day of the Girl.

Melissa Wardy of Brave Girls Alliance says:

“The Brave Girls Alliance is proud to support Lottie doll and their campaign that champions girls’ desire to be heroes. The Superhero contest is a great way to bring girls’ voices forward and allows them to show the world their ideas on what a girl superhero should look like and what powers they should possess.”

The campaign has already received support from within the comic community. Sue blogs about women in superhero comics at the incredibly popular DC Women Kicking Ass on Tumblr. She also maintains Superheroes Are For Girls and This: Moments for Women, and co-hosts the CBR podcast 3 Chicks Review Comics. She’s a loud and never-tiring voice for feminism in the cape comics blogosphere.

“Superheroes are for girls, too. And now with the Lottie doll children can have a female superhero that has realistic body shape. What a wonderful toy.”

About Arklu

Arklu is a young and innovative award-winning toy company with the dynamic team of Lucie Follett and Ian Harkin at the helm.

Since her launch in August 2012, Lottie dolls have become something of a global phenomenon securing the approval of industry experts (winning 19 awards in the US, UK and Canada including 5 prestigious Oppenheim Portfolio Platinum Awards), child development experts (encouragement quotes), international press coverage and most importantly, positive feedback from the parents and children who love Lottie.

Lottie now sells in 30 countries; the www.lottie.com website appears in 17 language versions, including Chinese, Russian and Japanese.

About the Brave Girls Alliance

The Brave Girls Alliance is a think tank of girl empowerment experts and allies. We are a global group of nonprofit organizations, small businesses, professionals, parents, girls and other individuals who have come together to ask media content creators, large corporations, marketers and retailers to make a commitment to support girls’ empowerment.  We ask that girls have a voice in ending gender stereotypes and sexualization in the media and products created for them, and we support the parents, families and communities who join us in advocating for a healthier girlhood. www.bravegirlswant.com

Easter is almost here! I can’t believe how fast time is going but I love Spring! Melissa & Doug are having an Easter Basket Giveaway! You don’t want to miss this one! So, enter, by clicking on the image above! In the meantime, check out all the wonderful Easter gifts and more on their website!  My son and I love all the Arts and Crafts products they have! They really do have something for children of all ages.

The contest will run from March 5^th through the 24^th and here are the details:    People will be asked to pledge that they will keep their family active this Spring.  They will then be asked to fill-out a pledge form and 3 winners will be chosen.  Prize for all 3 is a Jet 20 Trek bike and $200 Umi Gift Card for the purchase of 3 pair of Umi Shoes!  This contest is open to US only.  Click on the image below to enter!