Belonging, one puzzle piece at a time
By Louise Kinross
Ashley Kizis recalls growing up with “people near and dear to me who felt they had to hide their disabilities for fear of being excluded.”
She’s now the owner of Kidunified, a Guelph, Ont. company that makes inclusive puzzles for elementary school kids.
“I wanted to create a learning resource I could use with my own 8-year-old son that reflected disabilities—both visible and invisible—gender expressions, cultures and ethnicities," Ashley says. "I wanted it to be a launching point for discussion. I’m a puzzler myself, and it’s something that kids can use independently or as a group.”
Kidunified has two puzzles—a 350-piece and a 100-piece. The Children’s Makers Market Puzzle shows children in a park having a craft market together. Mission: Inclusion (see photo below) features a neighbourhood scene with kids who use assistive devices like a sensory swing, a guide dog, prosthetics and hearing aids.
“Both puzzles come with extension activities so the child can further interact with the illustration once they build the puzzle,” Ashley says. For Mission: Inclusion, there’s a search and find activity that includes hidden gadgets and assistive devices within the puzzle illustration. Kids can look for an ostomy bag, a white cane, an activity they'd like to do, and a shirt the same colour as theirs.
While some children’s puzzles may include one character with a disability, Kidunified goes for a vast range of all kinds of diversity. There’s a kid using noise-cancelling headphones, children with Down syndrome, and a child using a track ball.
“There are many representations of skin colours and hair textures and sizes,” Ashley says. “We also have non-binary children, a transgender child and children with skin differences like alopecia or vitiligo. I hear from parents how much they appreciate the conversations and discussions the puzzles spark with their child."
The puzzles use more muted colours “that encourage calm and focus for many children, "with the hopes of better including neurodivergent kiddos,” Ashley says.
Mission: Inclusion was just released on Amazon at $29.99, so available to families and schools across Canada and the U.S.
You can also purchase both puzzles at Kidunified.
Before finalizing puzzle illustrations, Ashley has a volunteer review committee of folks with different identities who provide feedback.
Ashley hopes every child who makes the puzzle will relate to a character. "I wish for all kids to see beautiful pieces of themselves in our puzzles, and for them to recognize that they belong."
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