It’s game, set, match for Australian toy brand Mizzie The Kangaroo, with the Brisbane-based startup bouncing all the way from the playroom to the centre court at the Australian Open.
Mizzie The Kangaroo, which was founded by Sandra Ebbott in 2015, has teamed up with the Australian Open to launch a new limited-edition range of educational toys designed to teach babies and toddlers about the joy of tennis and to inspire a love of sport.
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The brand sells teething toys and educational toys for babies and toddlers. Its star product is an orange kangaroo called Mizzie, a teething toy made from 100% natural rubber and water-based, non-toxic dyes.
In the last 10 years, Mizzie The Kangaroo has helped close to half a million babies with their products and has approximately 1000 stockists across Australia.
The small business was left devastated and had to rebuild after the Brisbane floods destroyed more than 12,000 pieces of stock in 2022, with Ebbott confirming to SmartCompany she lost over $250,000 at the time.
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Not wanting the stock to end up in landfill, Ebbott was able to repurpose the destroyed stock to help build roads and other infrastructure through a recycling program with Queensland industrial technology company Pearl Global, now known as Entyr.
Ebbott told SmartCompany she met representatives from the Australian Open at the Australian Toy Association Toy Hobby and Licensing Fair in March earlier this year when they stopped by the brand’s stand. Ebbott offered to create a bespoke collection for them.
“They (Australian Open) knew they wanted a baby and toddler range, and they had never done that before, and we always thought that it would be a great way to express our products through sports, because Mizzie is all about helping little ones learn through play,” Ebbott says.
“We believe that children learn best through play and fun, and actually, those first 1000 days in a baby’s life are really important and set the foundations for their future learning journey.”
The Australian Open and Mizzie The Kangaroo baby and toddler range features five new items, including an interactive soundbook where budding little readers can see Mizzie experience the magic of stepping onto the famous blue court. As well as vibrant illustrations, the book also has real tennis sounds at the press of a button.
Other toys include a double-sided puzzle featuring Mizzie hopping around the Australian Open and a map of Australia, a colour-revealing interactive baby bath book, and bath foam stickies that promote sensory exploration, creativity and fine motor development.
The range also offers the Little Ace match set, which pairs Mizzie The Kangaroo’s natural teething toy with the tennis-themed bath book and foam stickies in a gift set.
The products are available on the Mizzie The Kangaroo and Australian Open websites from now until the end of February 2026, and tennis fans will also be able to purchase them at the grand slam in Melbourne at the Australian Open in January next year.
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Ebbott hopes the collaboration is the beginning of a journey into helping other sporting companies inspire children to be active at an early age.
“The idea is really to encourage little ones to be active and stay active,” she says.
“When they are indoors, if we can inspire them through books and reading about it or hearing about it, like through the sound book, or in their bath and they see these fun things, then it’s really to help them want to be out there and give it a go.”
Ebbott says so many life skills are learnt through sports, such as teamwork, resilience, confidence and bravery.
“For us, everything that we do with Mizzie, it’s all about creating something that has purpose and that helps them learn through fun. As long as they’re having fun and there’s purpose, then they’re learning, she says.”
As for the future, Ebbott says she has always seen Mizzie The Kangaroo as a big global player.
“I do hope that Mizzie will be in every lounge room across the globe, she says.”
