racially inclusive building blocks are designed to teach kids about diversity

los angeles-based designer kazuya washio has created a set of toy building blocks that are shaped like abstract people and painted with a diverse range of skin tone colors. the racially inclusive set is named ‘the blockpeople society’ and it intends to cultivate children’s imagination while providing an opportunity to learn about diversity from an early age.

images courtesy of kazuya washio design

to make them resemble a small person, kazuya washio gives each building block human hands and feet — there’s even a small dog! each block has differently shaped hands and feet, meaning kids can stack them together in creative ways or arrange them to create human-like scenarios. each block is also assigned a different color to represent everyone in society, not just one skin tone. in this way, the toy building blocks intend to look like a microcosm of our real society.

building blocks offer countless benefits for children, from boosting creativity to developing cognitive skills. in addition to these great advantages, washio wanted his blocks to contain elements of human society, allowing children to naturally learn about society and relationships through play. through the various ways of stacking, the designer hopes that children learn how different races can support one another and mix together to form one big shape, giving a deeper meaning to the mere act of stacking.

to make the set, washio utilizes a 3D printer to output the human-like blocks. each one is then polished by hand and painted with acrylic paint, referring to the full spectrum of human skin color tones.

project info:

name: the blockpeople society
design: kazuya washio design

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom