LOCAL GIFTS: Kids

Locally-made Gift ideas Nothing about 2020 has been normal, thanks to the pandemic and its enhanced racism awareness, but StreetWise was blessed with help from its friends and so now this holiday season, we are using our city-wide platform to return the favor. StreetWise vendors are entrepreneurs, and so we are promoting other Chicago entrepreneurs of innovative products – many of them nonprofits – from varied cultures. We are all in this together.

by Suzanne Hanney

Bubblebird

Fizzing fun fit for a princess or a dragon slayer! Each11.5-ounce jar contains about 30 fizzies topped with a princess ducky or a dragon. Drop one or more into a tub filled with warm water and enjoy. The fizzies are vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free and hypoallergenic, with ingredients like baking soda, Epsom salts, kaolin clay, grapeseed oil and dyes, and will not leave oily residue or color in your tub. $20. Or, choose tub crayons and paints, bubbling bath slime, sparkling mist. www.bubblebird.com

Culture of Africa for Kids Everywhere (CAKE)

Nneka’s name means “Mother is Superior” and she comes from the Igbo (or Ibo) ethnic group of Nigeria, Cameroon and Equitorial Guinea. She is not a honey brownskinned version of Caucasian 11½-inch fashion dolls, but has sub-Saharan features like high cheekbones and full lips, and either coiled or twin poufs of curly hair in addition to her large eyes. She enjoys celebrating traditional events like masquerade and new yam festivals and wants to be a chemical engineer or chief urban planner. $12.88 https:// queensofafricadolls.com/products/ nneka-doll-w-stunning-curly-coils Queens of Africa dolls are exclusively distributed by Chicago-based Culture of Africa for Kids Everywhere (CAKE) Inc. The Regalus Dress and Cape doll has a full head of curly hair and wears a long sleeveless dress with long full cape, buttoned at the neck. The print fabric was made in West Africa and her clothing was handmade in the U.S. $36.88 C.A.K.E Inc. offers exhibits and educational programs and facilitates school assemblies to connect Americans with their African ancestral heritage and to foster overall cultural awareness for children and adults. Workingwith Indiana University’s National African Language Resource Center (NALRC) ensures authenticity. You can also find books, posters, flash cards that teach the Yoruba language; toddler jumpsuits and dresses in African-made fabric, all at queensofafricadolls.com