EAST AURORA, N.Y., October 27, 2014 -- In a global partnership centered on early childhood development, Fisher-Price, Inc., one of the world's leading infant and preschool toy manufacturers and a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc., has partnered with world famous mom, philanthropist and global pop singer, Shakira and the Barefoot Foundation to create a web series for moms and co-develop a new line of Babygear and toys.

Fisher-Price® Shakira First Steps Collection Kick & Play Piano Gym (Photo: Business Wire)

Fisher-Price® Shakira First Steps Collection Kick & Play Piano Gym (Photo: Business Wire)

The program targets millennials who make up 80 percent of today's first-time moms. Highly digital and hyper-focused on sharing opinions and recommendations with other moms, the partnership links the most-connected generation of moms in a relevant, global conversation with one of the world's most digitally savvy moms now pregnant with her second child.

The collaboration kicks off today with a 12-part web series featuring Shakira's personal reflections on what her baby has taught her about herself, the importance of early childhood development, looking at the world through a child's eyes, facilitating milestones and even her hopes for raising a future philanthropist. Segments also celebrate babies' amazing activity and growth as well as Shakira's own parenting journey from a very personal mom-to-mom point of view. She draws upon her own experiences in raising her son, Milan, and shares her strong belief that it's never too early to nurture your child's potential by doing things like singing, talking, reading and playing with baby.

The entire series will distribute exclusively over digital to 23 countries at one time, delivered via branded social channels and supported with paid media. The content will live on www.fisher-price.com/shakira along with product information on the First Steps Collection, the new babygear and infant toy line co-developed by Shakira and Fisher-Price.

"Working with my foundation over the years on early childhood development, I saw how important developmental milestones are and how toys can help babies reach them - including with my own son. I wanted to design a line of toys that stimulated development in the crucial early stages of life, the stages in which learning can be achieved through supervised play, fostering the development of psychological, social and motor skills," Shakira said. "I instantly felt a strong connection with Fisher-Price and their extensive research and focus on helping children build skills for school and for life, further reinforced for me how aligned we are on the importance of early childhood development. They were the perfect choice of partner."

When it comes to baby's development, the early years are the most important. The Shakira First Steps Collection encourages baby's well-rounded development, helping baby get ready for their first steps—and beyond! Beginning mid-November consumers in the U.S. can purchase Shakira's introductory line of co-developed Fisher-Price baby gear and toys exclusively at Amazon.com as well as Fisher-Price.com. The Shakira First Steps Collection, which is also available for pre-order on Amazon.com starting today, includes:

Fisher-Price® Shakira First Steps Collection Kick & Play Piano Gym: "Grows" with baby from play gym to portable piano. When baby kicks, music plays and four linkable toys encourage baby to bat, reach and grasp. When baby's ready for tummy time, the arch and all its activities move down for hands-on fun. And when baby's ready to sit, baby can "play" the piano with two different music modes. ($54.99)
Fisher-Price® Shakira First Steps Collection Musical Friends Bouncer - A fun and soothing vibrating bouncer that introduces baby to an early love of music and global beats. Bouncer helps entertain baby with a removable toy bar featuring lights, sounds and music, and animal activity toy friends. ($59.99)
Fisher-Price® Shakira First Steps Collection Move ‘n Groove Soccer Ball: Get baby moving ‘n grooving with a musical soccer ball, that encourages active, motor skill-building play with silly sounds and 11 original global music tunes inspired by music from around the world! ($17.99)
Fisher-Price® Shakira First Steps Collection Stack ‘n Learn Alphabet Blocks: Fifty easy-to-stack blocks in one big block set to encourage development of fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination—with so much for baby to discover as they play! Alphabet letters from A-Z introduce baby to letters and the alphabet, with pictures of familiar first objects that start with each block's featured letter. ($14.99)
Fisher-Price® Shakira First Steps Collection Teethe ‘n Play Stacker: Classic ring stacking fun to help baby develop fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination, and help stimulate baby's senses of sight, sound and touch. ($14.99)
Fisher-Price® Shakira First Steps Collection Count ‘n Teethe Soft Book: Snuggle up for story time with a soft book featuring colorful characters, counting fun from 1-5, and lots to discover on all six pages—including a shiny mirror, peek-a-boo flap, crinkle page, satin-patch squeaker, soft ribbon and teether! ($9.99)

"Fisher-Price has always been passionate about enriching playtime for young children around the world because we believe play is how children learn best," said Lisa Mancuso, senior vice president of marketing for Fisher-Price Baby. "In establishing the Barefoot Foundation at the age of 18, Shakira began fulfilling her own personal mission to bring early education intervention to less fortunate children. Melding our shared commitment and passion to give children the best possible start in life, with the ability to amplify the message across Shakira's strong social presence, we elevate the message of early childhood development and early advantage in a unique way to new moms around the world," she added.

In appreciation of Shakira's focus on vulnerable children and their families, Fisher-Price is also a proud sponsor of the Barefoot Foundation which helps feed and educate children, as well as provides community support for parents. Shakira's compensation for this program will be donated directly to the Barefoot Foundation to benefit early childhood development programs throughout Latin America.

For more information, visit www.fisher-price.com/shakira. For press materials, images, video and broll visit the Mattel Newsroom at http://news.mattel.com/.

About Fisher-Price

In 1931, Herman Fisher and Irving Price embarked on a journey to change the toy industry. Their goal: creating playthings that inspire a child's development. More than 80 years later, Fisher-Price remains deeply rooted in the belief that play is the way children learn best. To this day, understanding the importance of play in building a child's skills is the fundamental principle, as the company strives to enrich the lives of families with young children around the globe. United by the passion for a child's safe care and development at each age and stage, the people of Fisher-Price work tirelessly to bring families the best toys and baby products in the world. Some of the company's best-known brands include Laugh & Learn®, Little People®, Power Wheels®, and Imaginext®, and it's also a leading developer of character-based toys for children's programming such as Thomas & Friends™, Dora and Friends: Into the City!, and Jake and the Never Land Pirates. Fisher-Price is a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT). For more information, visit www.fisher-price.com (U.S.) and www.fisher-price.ca (Canada) or connect with Fisher-Price on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

About Shakira

Over the course of her career, Colombian singer-songwriter and Grammy winner Shakira has sold over 60 million records worldwide and has won numerous awards including two Grammys, eight Latin Grammys, four World Music Awards, three American Music Awards and five Billboard Music Awards, to name a few. She is the only artist from South America to have a number one song in the US, and has had four of the 20 top-selling hits of the last decade. At the age of 18, she founded the Pies Descalzos (Barefoot) Foundation which currently provides education and nutrition to over six thousand impoverished children in Colombia and is expanding its work to other countries, including newly launched projects in Haiti and South Africa. In October 2011, Shakira was named a member of President Obama's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. Shakira served as coach on the 4^th and 6^th season of "The Voice," NBC's hit reality vocal competition series that searches for the nation's best voice. Her tenth and most recent studio album "Shakira" was released on March 25, 2014 and quickly became her highest-charting album.

About Barefoot Foundation

The Barefoot Foundation is a US-based non-profit whose mission is to make education universally available to every child. We support sustainable and innovative education programs while working to educate policy-makers about the vital importance of education. This mission is inspired by our founder, international recording artist and philanthropist Shakira. A native of Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira promised herself that she would help children like those she saw living on the city's streets. When she was just 18 years old, Shakira kept that promise with the launch of her Pies Descalzos Foundation, dedicated to helping Colombian children who have been victimized by poverty and displacement.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20141027005949/en/

Fisher-Price
Brenda Andolina, 716-687-3101
brenda.andolina@mattel.com
or
Margaux Vega, 310-252-3520
margauxs.vega@mattel.com

Source: Fisher-Price, Inc.

News Provided by Acquire Media

]]>