About the 5Marys

A philosophy of unity and inclusiveness…

We decided to bring the Five Marys to life as a series of characters to encourage the cultivation of values we learned through play - with girls and children across the globe. We believe the Marys represent the values, characteristics, and experiences that unite us far more than they differentiate us - regardless of how we are growing up.

Introducing the 5Marys

And so, we present the 5Marys: a collection of characters that encourages children to learn about each other through play. We designed the first series of 10 characters - little girls - from around the world, each with their unique story. The characters are designed to invite girls to identify with traits they may share with them - recognizing just how similar we are, despite the little that makes us different. The characters are also designed to help girls experience what makes them feel unique - or different - as beautiful. Imagine that! Another little girl shares her experiences and traits - whether she's her classmate, friend, cousin - or another little girl in a country or continent across the sea.

The importance of play

You may also notice that our characters are often found playing outside, or inside, together. This is by design. We believe in the importance of play in cultivating a child’s imagination, social skills, creativity, and even problem-solving. We believe that play is critical to positive childhood development. With that in mind, our characters and ideas will encourage various forms of play, outside and indoors.

While the 10 characters’ stories can initially be discovered through this website and our blog, they can also be collected for play. Through this website, we will continually share ideas for games, play, and interactions - for both parents (and their kids) and educators. The following products are also available through our Online Shop, empowering interactive and imaginative play:

Shared Values

We designed the characters - and their backstories - to empower girls to engage in imaginative, interactive play through the identities, backgrounds, and personality traits of each character. Playing with the characters can encourage girls (or anyone playing with them) to connect through - and to practice - a few core values:

Our blog will become a resource of interactive play ideas with each character.

Our Mantra

In short, the 5Marys are designed to celebrate both what connects us through shared experiences - and what makes us beautifully different. We believe the 5Marys’ mantra would go a little like this:

We are 5Marys, and we are all. Play with me and you’ll have a friend from another part of the world - and you will see that we are really quite the same. Our hearts love some of the same things - to dream, to have fun, and to play. That’s what I like. This is what I dream of doing. And I can’t wait to learn about what you like and dream of doing, too. Now let’s play!