Sometimes it takes the insight of a shrewd 6-year-old to inspire change.

This is certainly true of Alyssa Ottley, now 9. Along with her mother, Yvonne Ottley, Alyssa is the co-creator of Frobelles, a dressing-up and hairstyling game for children that features three Black characters (the Frobelles) for kids to style.

Within the app, children choose a Frobelle: Kelli, Coco or Krista. They then scroll through and choose clothes, accessories, fun backgrounds and hairstyles – all of which are named. There are puffs, Fulani braids, Bantu knots and more.

Neither Yvonne nor Alyssa intended to become app developers, but when they realised that children’s apps featuring Black characters were scarce, they knew they had to act.

“Alyssa really got into dress-up games when she was around 6 years old,” explains Yvonne. “One day she came to me and said, ‘I am looking for a character with hair like mine so that I can do styles like mine.’

“The games she played just didn’t have that character to play or even to purchase. I said I would find and download something for her. But I really struggled to find anything that accurately and positively represented Black people.”

Even when the Ottleys found the few games that do feature Black characters, many of them were unsatisfactory.

“The hair was always the one thing that stood out as not accurate in terms of texture and density and what you would expect to see,” explains Yvonne. “Very often you would find a character with black skin but perhaps the hair would be long, straight and blonde.”

Yvonne, who has a graphic design background, had an idea. “Alyssa has always been very artistic and creative. So I said, ‘How do you feel about trying to create a game ourselves?’”

Alyssa jumped at the chance. “We were both so excited about the concept that it was all we talked about at home. We would spend breakfast talking about it and before bed she would say, ‘Can we do Frobelles tomorrow?’ It was amazing to see her enthusiasm.”

The mother-daughter team designed the concept together. “We decided the characters would be three sisters, who love rocking their Afro hair and are really into fashion,” says Yvonne.

“Afro hair is such an expression of personalities and our culture, so one of the things we really wanted was to have different hair lengths and textures with each character having their own individual style.”

They commissioned an artist to work on the characters and a developer to build the game. The Ottleys have also extended the brand, creating Frobelles merchandise such as T-shirts and tote bags featuring Kelli, Coco and Krista.

The app launched at the end of 2020 and Alyssa and Yvonne have had some great feedback. “People really embraced the game and what we were trying to do, not just in my community and the wider Black community, but among all ethnicities and age groups,” explains Yvonne.

Some of the most touching responses have come from Alyssa’s friends. “One of Alyssa’s school friends, who is white, said she loved that she now knew the names of the hairstyles of her peers that she’d always wanted the words to describe,” says Yvonne.

Of course, Frobelles as a game is still evolving. “Alyssa has lots of big plans. She wants to be able to make the characters move. She’s also very passionate about having boys represented as well, so we would like to incorporate Froboys into the game,” explains Yvonne, who also remains committed to the project.

“I want to continue to improve the game, as it has such a strong message... It has made people realise just how little representation there was in this area.”