Product review: Barbie Fashionistas Doll 187 with Hearing Aids

Available from toy shops
Price: £13.99 RRP
Ages: 4 to 10 (not suitable for children under three years due to small parts)

Reviewed by Elodie (8) who is moderately deaf and wears hearing aids.

"I’ve called my new Barbie ‘Rose’ after Rose Ayling-Ellis. I get her to dance like Rose danced on ‘Strictly’. I have quite a lot of Barbies but none of them came with hearing aids so I’m happy that Rose has them. I also bought the same Barbie for my friend for her birthday so that she can play with a doll that looks like me.

My mum has tried to make hearing aids for my Barbies with glitter glue, but they always peel off.

It’s strange that people call the new Barbie the ‘deaf Barbie’ as I think lots of my other Barbies are deaf too. Some of my Barbies sign and some have forgotten to put their hearing aids in; they’re still deaf though.

What I’d love more than anything is a doll where I can take the hearing aids on and off, then I can take them off when she goes to bed or when she gets in the bath. If I could pull the hearing aids out, I could try them out on my other Barbies too. Imagine having a whole set of different coloured hearing aids that you could mix and match for your Barbies… that would be awesome!

I have a teddy with removable hearing aids from Build a Bear, but these days I prefer playing with my dolls.

This new Barbie is one of the more basic kinds of Barbie. It would be nice to have a Barbie with hearing aids that has all the things that the best Barbies have, like bendable arms and legs, and with all the different hair colours. This one is still really nice though. Last Christmas I asked for the Barbie who has a wheelchair. It’s fun playing with her too – sometimes they both whizz around on her wheels."