The LEGO Group is relaunching its decade-old LEGO Friends brand, backed by new science and research that reflects how today’s children want to be represented in toys and media. 

The Danish brickmaker’s latest LEGO Friends sets and content take place in the fictional suburban town of Heartlake City, where a group of close friends work together to overcome the challenges they encounter at school and in everyday life.

A fresh range of building sets for kids ages six to 12—including an art school, a dog rescue center and an international school—are rolling out this month, along with a 44-minute special episode of a brand-new CG-animated LEGO Friends series on YouTube. The new products and content were carefully crafted to spotlight Gen Alpha’s interests and passions, and additional episodes and building sets are scheduled to launch throughout the year. 

Produced by Passion Paris (the French sister company of Passion Pictures), the LEGO Friends YouTube series will introduce audiences to a new cast of tween characters who have different skin tones, cultures and disabilities. The cast includes 13-year-old Paisley, who adores music and struggles with anxiety; 12-year-old Zac, who is African-French and loves the social aspect of school; and 12-year-old Autumn, who was born with a limb difference and is passionate about nature and the outdoors.

LEGO partnered with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and New York-based research company Opinium to work on the brand revamp.  Their goal was to better understand the wellbeing of kids, the feelings they experience, and the diverse friendships they build, says LEGO Friends design director Fenella Charity. 

“Gen Alphas are digital natives [who] are navigating relationships with themselves and others in both an online and physical world—which is new to both them and their parents,” says Charity. “We’ve re-imagined LEGO Friends to be more representative of this ‘modern childhood,’ enabling kids and their parents to celebrate difference.”

In a global LEGO Play Well study conducted last year, 84% of the 24,593 kids surveyed said they would love to play with toys that help them learn about different cultures and people. And 97% of their parents said it’s important for kids to discuss topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Most parents (84%) also feel that toys can help children learn about diversity. 

These findings are supported by a LEGO survey that Opinium conducted in January, which also concluded that kids in the US are looking for more realistic content. According to the report, 79% of the poll group said they wanted to see more characters experience negative emotions, and only 47% have seen characters go through ups and downs in the content they’re currently watching. 

To bolster the brand relaunch, LEGO is celebrating friendships in a two-month campaign running in select LEGO stores until April. It includes an activity where kids can spin a wheel to find out more about one of the eight new LEGO Friends characters, and then build sets that align with the character’s passions. Kids will also be able to build and take home a custom skate ramp, and customize one of four new Friends-branded bedroom sets. And in March, the company will launch an in-store LEGO Friends Character Creator that lets consumers design and customize their own character. 

“Throughout this process, we have looked to our consumers, and this re-imagination answers a call from them to better reflect what friendships around the world look like today, with a group of diverse characters,” says Charity.