My children are spoiled. Very very spoiled. They want or need for nothing. They have a nice roof over their heads, their own, pretty bedrooms, the best schools, good food to eat, family that love them and high on the list of every young child, a ridiculously large selection of toys. Too many damn toys.

So I was really touched when I heard about The Topsy Foundation, an NGO that cares for orphaned and vulnerable children, in rural Mpumalanga where The Topsy Foundation works, there is often not enough money to put food on the table and keep the household going, let alone provide toys for the kids to play with. These circumstances are robbing them of the opportunity to develop some of the vital skills they’ll need later in life.

The Topsy Toy Project is trying to right this wrong. Kids in the communities where Topsy work end up playing with whatever junk they find lying around. Their makeshift robots, dolls, cars and fairy wands inspired our own range of toys – The Little Toys that Aren’t

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Through a partnership with Spree and Your Parenting, these bits and pieces are being virtually sold online as real toys. Shoppers will be able to make a donation by “buying” one of ten different toys, with the full amount going straight to Topsy to stock their Toy Library.

For example, this is a crocodile!

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And this is is a toy tea set, my heart really hurt when I looked at this!

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What about a toy car?

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Through the Topsy Toy Library, partnerships have been formed with twenty-three day care centres in the area, as well as a centre for physically disabled kids. With Topsy’s help, more than 1 400 children are now getting access to specialised educational toys and better-trained teachers. We’d like this campaign to also spark a bigger conversation about early childhood development and how important it is for parents, teachers and nannies to help kids learn through play.

The Little Toys that Aren’t are available for virtual purchase from today at R20 per toy-donation, will you join me in making a donation?

For more information on how you can get involved, follow Topsy Foundation on Facebook & Twitter.

 

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