Rebekah Gienapp

I write a lot about diverse books for children. But kids also need to experience cultural diversity in their play! If you’re looking for multicultural toys, dolls, and games, you’ll find so many ideas for kids ages 3 – 10 in this gift guide.

First, I’ll share a couple of companies that offer great monthly subscription options for a variety of age levels. Then, I’ll share our favorite multicultural toys for preschoolers, followed by diverse toy and game ideas for elementary age children.

Disclosure: For your convenience, this post includes affiliate links. If you purchase items through these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclosure policy here. 

Fun multicultural subscription boxes that make great gifts for kids of all ages

Little Passports

This educational subscription box helps kids discover cultures and countries around the world. Each month, your child will receive a themed activity guide, a souvenir (this is always my kiddo’s favorite part), stickers, postcards, and more.

If your child is reading well on their own, I recommend the World Edition, but if you’re not quite there yet, our family used the Early Explorers option for several years (pictured above). Little Passports also has science-themed subscription boxes too.

Jambo Book Box

This fun diverse books subscription box has options for ages infant – 13, as well as a mixed ages box option. Jambo Books addresses the lack of diversity in children’s literature by sending subscribers two age appropriate books each month that feature Black, Latinx, Asian, and Native American characters.

Each month the box your books are shipped in is covered in original art by a celebrated children’s illustrator, which makes the box’s arrival even more exciting. Jambo Book Club is a wonderful gift to give a child who loves reading, but whose busy parents may not have lots of time to scout out the best new diverse books for their kids.

The best multicultural toys, dolls, and games for preschool age children

Basket of Babies plush doll set

How adorable and cuddly is this multicultural doll set? It includes six babies with a variety of skin tones. The hats are attached, so they don’t get lost, but the clothes can be removed for children who want to dress and re-dress their babies.

Stir Fry Play Food Set

Just about every preschooler I know loves pretend play with food. Little ones can cook up a stir fry  dish for you, then use the tongs to place your order inside the sturdy plastic take out box. This stir fry set is just one of Learning Resource’s multicultural toy food sets. You can find another set here that includes samosas, tacos, croissants, and more.

I Never Forget a Face matching game

This multicultural game encourages kids to match faces from all around the world. I’ve used it in children’s church, and it’s a favorite with kids ages 4 – 7. Eeboo also makes a 100 piece puzzle with the same characters.

Rainforest instrument set

When a child blows a puff of air into this colorful owl, it makes a realistic hoot! Rub the green stick up and down the frog’s back to make it croak. These high quality wooden animals are part multicultural toys, part musical instruments. You can find more global musical instruments for children here.

Wonder Crew superhero buddies

These cuddly superhero dolls come are available as several different characters, each of whom is a different race. They were created by a licensed therapist who was dismayed when her preschool age son told her after school one day that “boys aren’t supposed to cry.”

Related Post: Best educational toys for 3 and 4 year olds for families on a budget

Friends and Neighbors: The Helping Game

All of Peaceable Kingdom’s games encourage children to work together to achieve a goal, rather than compete against each other. In Friends and Neighbors, preschoolers learn to identify feelings and practice compassion and empathy as they match ways to help with friends who have a problem.

Lil’ Libros books

Lil’ Libros encourages children to develop a love of reading with their bilingual English/Spanish books. I love how the titles share Latin American cultures and tell the stories of important Latinx leaders and artists.

Space Quest Build a Story Cards

There are so many different ways young children can use these 36 cards to tell stories and play games about space travel. We use the cards to create goofy scenarios at our house, but they’re also wonderful for teaching problem solving skills.

Fair trade Guatemalan worry dolls

I still remember when my kindergarten teacher showed me a set of worry dolls. I was captivated by the idea that when kids spoke their worries to these little dolls, they could take them away before the next morning if the children slept with them under their pillows.  This fair trade set is handmade by Guatemalan artists who are paid a fair wage for their work.

Marvel friends with different abilities set 

When we think about diversity and inclusion in the toy box, we not only need to  think about multicultural toys, but also toys that include people with disabilities. This sturdy rubber toy set, which has held up to years of play in our church nursery, sparks conversation with young children about disabilities.

The Snowy Day plush doll + book

The Snowy Day is one of my favorite books for young children, so I practically squealed when I learned there’s a small plush doll to accompany the book.

Related Post: Best Montessori Toys for 5 and 6 year olds

Great multicultural toys, dolls, and games for elementary age children

Young Yogi Barefoot Books set

This set for aspiring yogis includes a playful book that weaves yoga poses throughout the story, a set of 50 sturdy yoga activity cards that have been a huge hit in our house, and a yoga CD of calming songs that are perfect to listen to as your practice yoga.

Origami for Beginners set

There are lots of good origami sets out there. I like this one because it’s specifically designed for beginners. It’s also appealing to kids because of the bright neon papers that are included and the sticker embellishments.

Heart for Heart Girls dolls

These culturally diverse dolls celebrate having a giving heart and a passion to help others. Each doll comes with a book that tells more about her story, as well as a friendship bracelet. For example, Mosi, a Native American, is keeping the stories and traditions of her culture alive. The company donates $1 to World Vision’s humanitarian programs for each doll sold.

Related Post: Feminist Kids’ Gift Guide

Fancy Pachisi game

The ancient and classic game Pachisi has been reimagined with shiny foil embellishments to the beautiful artwork. Players roll dice to move four pieces around the board to get back to Home. Land on an opponent’s piece and you’ll have to go back to Start! Good thing you can use the safe spaces along the way! Made from recycled paper and vegetable-based inks.

Fresh Dolls

Purchase Ebony doll or Lexi doll on Amazon | Shop full line of dolls at Fresh Dolls website

This Black woman-owned doll company believes that “children should see their beauty and brilliance reflected to them in positive play.” They also offer a line of boy fashion dolls on their website!

Global Kids activity deck

This large, sturdy card set provides endless multicultural learning and fun for kids. It includes games, crafts, recipes, and activities that help children serve their communities and connect with others. Pair it with Let’s Celebrate, a book that introduces kids to 13 special days from around the world.

Maki Stack Party Game

This unique game will create laughs among older kids and adults alike. The object is to be the fastest player to stack your pieces of sushi correctly without the tower falling over.

World Atlas Sticker Book

We use our Barefoot Books World Atlas all the time, so I was thrilled to learn about this new sticker book. This oversized sticker book takes children on a fact filled journey around the world, with 450 reusable stickers of plants, peoples, landmarks, animals, and more.

Fair trade mancala game set

Mancala is played in many countries in Africa, as well as in India, though the game has different names in different places. In this two player strategy game, each player tries to capture more marbles than their opponent. This beautiful fair trade wooden set was hand crafted by artisans in India who were paid a fair wage for their work.

Fair Trade Galimoto Girl on a Bicycle

In many different African countries, children make galimoto push toys from wooden sticks and wires. Children can watch this galimoto girl’s legs pedal as the bicycle wheels move. The toy is handmade by artisans in Kenya under Ten Thousand Villages fair trade certification.

You might pair this toy with the book Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams, about a Malawian boy who makes his own galimoto.