Black-owned toy store opens downtown to help kids pick up STEAM

An online toy store catering to cultural inclusivity will launch its first physical location this week in Atlanta.

Brown Toy Box specializes in puzzles, science kits, dolls, books, arts and crafts, and other playtime tools meant to inspire young, innovative Black minds.

“We are on a mission to celebrate Black culture and create powerful STEAM experiences,” founder and CEO Terri Bradley said in an interview with UATL.

The brand began in 2017 as a toy subscription service, but Bradley said she always had a larger goal in mind.

“I wanted to make sure that our end users have toys, books, games, that positively reflected their image so they could see themselves positively represented in play,” Bradley explained.

“We are on a mission to celebrate Black culture and create powerful STEAM experiences,” Brown Toy Box founder and CEO Terri Bradley said. (Courtesy of Brown Toy Box)

Bradley said the idea for Brown Toy Box began when she was searching for diverse window clings for her children.

“I wanted (my children) to see something that looked like them,” she said. “It was so unique to be able to find something that represented my kids, where they could see themselves.”

Ultimately, Bradley said she was unsuccessful in finding what she was looking for. Instead, she used animals and a variety of symbols, or she had to get creative and make her own clings.

Her mother experienced a similar issue while raising Bradley as a Black child in 1970s Minnesota. Bradley recalled her mother coloring Barbie dolls’ skin with a Sharpie to make them appear more inclusive.

Brown Toy Box toy designer Niasha Kodzai said she also experienced a lack of diversity while growing up in the early 2000s.

“There wouldn’t really be any Black dolls. There wouldn’t really be any other Black kids in many of the books that we were reading, unless it was something to do with the Civil Rights Movement,” she explained.

“It wasn’t really until ‘Princess and the Frog’ came out where I really saw myself represented in the shows and the media that other kids my age were watching.

Toy designer Niasha Kodzai interned at Fisher Price Toys. (Courtesy of Niasha Kodzai)

Additionally, Bradley wanted Black children to have access to developmental resources to help boost their confidence and interest in fields that are not typically geared toward Black communities.

Essentially, she wanted to demolish the myth that Black children cannot be scientists or engineers.

“I want to make sure that Black children are at the table,” Bradley said, considering Brown Toy Box as the “on-ramp” to play-based STEAM learning.

Bradley said she believes the earlier children are introduced to various subjects, the more likely they’ll be able to adapt and learn them. By a certain age, children start to become self-aware, and sometimes embarrassed, about things they don’t understand, she explained.

“They lose their confidence of raising their hand in front of other people,” she said.

Sway Jones, founder of visual arts organization Sway Art, shared similar sentiments about children’s need for encouragement. He makes kids’ art kits, which will be sold at Brown Toy Box.

“We all are creative beings,” Jones told UATL. “Everybody has to start somewhere.”

Sway Jones makes kids' art kits that will be sold at Brown Toy Box. (Courtesy of Sway Art Designs)

Kodzai said Brown Toy Box gives children of color the opportunity to explore various areas of interest.

“(Brown Toy Box)’s whole thing is giving kids the confidence and the interest to explore STEAM fields, while also making it really fun,” she said. “That’s what brought me here.”

Brown Toy Box plans to partner with community STEAM organizations, like Wundergrub and Small Bites Adventure Club, for youth programming on weekends. Microsoft will also participate in the weekly activation sessions.

“We wanted to offer something that would allow families to come out and play,” Bradley explained. “Our activation area is small, so we can typically host about 12 children at a time.”

The company also sells products in small specialty toy shops, as well as the Smithsonian Institution’s National African American Museum of History and Culture in Washington.

Bradley said she believes Brown Toy Box’s physical location will be a tool for children to escape social media and the constant use of screens. She said the age of social media has caused children to grow up too quickly.

“Having an online presence is important. But I will tell you, when I first started, I was dead set against anything online. I think kids are too connected, and I want kids to be able to get down on the floor with their parents, or vibe with their siblings or whatever, and just play. Go outside and just play.”

In addition to its own brand of toys, emerging brands like Beautiful Curly Me, Black to the Lab and Smart Girls HQ will be sold at the downtown store. It will also carry established brands like Barefoot Books, Djeco, Hape, Little Passports, Mukiki Spy Toys, Play 22 and Quokka.

The toy store is also a licensed LEGO reseller. In order to be approved, Bradley said she had to submit an application and a mission statement explaining why Brown Toy Box deserved authorization to sell the beloved stackable toy brand.

“It’s tough,” she said. “Once approved, you must submit your first order within 14 days or you have to go through the application process again. I imagine it is a different process for big-box retailers, but for specialty toy stores it’s arduous.”

Bradley iterated the importance of creative play for children’s development.

“It helps them to cultivate their imagination. Kids learn so much about themselves and their place in the world through play.”

Elementary students react as Amazon and Brown Toy Box surprising nearly 300 students with STEAM holiday gift kits at Humphries Elementary Schoo in 2023. (Jason Getz/AJC)

However, Bradley also emphasized how playtime can help adults as a stress reliever and as a way to connect with their children.

“One of the biggest groups for toys right now are adults,” she said. “It transcends all the years, and it takes you back to a time of when things were easier.”