'She looks like me': what kids really think of the new Barbie

Turns out kids care more about Barbie’s new earrings and blue hair than they care about her curvy thighs.

We invited a group of seven girls between the ages of two and eight, and a two-year-old boy, to play with the new Fashionista Barbies (which come in curvy, tall and petite) and give their take on the much talked about changes to the classic doll.

“Most of our Barbies are super skinny. These ones are bigger and I like big Barbies,” said eight-year-old Lela, who takes her dolls so seriously she creates YouTube videos of her Barbie games with her little sister.

But what she likes most about the new dolls isn’t the new body shapes.

“I like big toys,” said Lela, demonstrating how little hands grab around the thicker curvy legs, while the thin legs are harder to hold. “They are easier to hold.”

Lela’s six-year-old sister Zoe immediately grabbed the blue-haired Curvy Barbie “because she has sunglasses and none of the Barbies have glasses before”.

June, four, also loved both the curvy Barbies on offer – one “because it has blue hair”, and the other because she wears a pink belt. “The belt is my favorite color,” said June.

When Pippa, four, played with a naked version of the classic Barbie and a naked version of the curvy Barbie, there was only one thing that she could see that set them apart.

“Her hair is different,” said Pippa.

“This one is stronger,” said Emma, four, pointing out the curvy Barbie’s thicker thighs.

Do kids notice how skinny the classic Barbie is?

“No, I never think about that when I’m playing,” Lela said.

The mix of ethnicities in the new Barbie collection sparked the attention of the kids. Of the new Barbies that Mattel had available to buy immediately, tall Barbie has brown shoulder length hair, brown eyes and appears to be Asian, while petite Barbie is black, with dark brown skin. Both of the curvy Barbies were white.

Beatrice, two, who is mixed race, immediately grabbed the petite Barbie and declared it the one she’d like to take home.

Lela, who is also mixed race, also took a liking to the petite Barbie.

“She looks very different to our other barbies ... She has curly hair and it’s dark and it’s pink, and our other ones are blonde. And she has darker skin and they have light skin, and I like her dress and her shoes and her earrings,” she explained.

Her little sister Zoe had a soft spot for the tall Barbie. “This one is one of my favorite Barbies because it looks like me a little,” she said.

“Sometimes I like to play with ones that look like me, sometimes I like to play with ones that don’t like me,” added Zoe.

June and Emma, who are both white with blonde hair, both took a fancy to the blonde and light-skinned curvy Barbie.

Regardless of the politics behind the new Barbie release, the kids were thrilled with the new outfits and the different mix of shapes, sizes and colors of the dolls.

“They’re funner,” said Lela. “These ones look like people that walk down the street.”