Ms. Rachel, YouTube Star, Is Creating a Holiday Toy Frenzy

Business|Ms. Rachel’s Improbable Journey From Toddler Whisperer to Holiday Toy Story

About a year and a half ago, Laura Henderson, a toy company executive and 38-year-old mother in Toronto, was at the tail end of maternity leave with her second child. She was bleary-eyed and overwhelmed, as mothers juggling an infant and toddler tend to be, when she started scrolling TikTok and stumbled upon the children’s personality known as Ms. Rachel.

That name probably means nothing to you — unless you regularly spend time with a child under the age of 3, in which case you’re likely aware that she is essentially Taylor Swift for toddlers. Ms. Rachel is the star of a mega-viral YouTube channel created with her husband (known to viewers as “Mr. Aron”) who makes educational musical videos for the baby and toddler set, complete with bursts of animation and Broadway-worthy show tunes.

In the videos, dozens of which each top 100 million views, Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Accurso, cheerfully speaks to young viewers while wearing a signature outfit of denim overalls, a pink T-shirt and a knotted pink headband. Little ones go wild for her version of “Hop Little Bunnies” and for characters like a fluffy orange puppet named Herbie, voiced by her husband, Aron Accurso. She does a lot of peekaboo and dramatic wondering of “what’s in” boxes: “What’s in the box? What could it be? Will you take a look inside the box with me?”

Ms. Henderson quickly fell into a rabbit hole as she read enthusiastic online reviews of Ms. Rachel from parents and child development experts, many of whom cited the research that underpinned her teaching techniques, and decided she had to find the woman behind the character. Her goal: to work with her and her husband on a toy line for her company, Spin Master.

That idea has paid off in spectacular fashion. This holiday season, Spin Master is marketing a series of Ms. Rachel toys, including a plush version of Rachel herself, which has been programmed to sing and coo phrases just like she does on YouTube. Amazon and Target report that the toy has been flying off their virtual and physical shelves, and Walmart says it is the most successful presale for any toy line in company history. By the time the holidays are over, Ms. Rachel is expected to be the top new toy license this year, according to the data analytics company Circana, with a collection that includes a “surprise learning box” and wooden blocks.

The supercharged journey of toys from YouTube screens to retail sensation illustrates the seismic changes afoot in children’s media and how modern parents are navigating that world. Ms. Rachel joins a long line of entertainers who have been uniquely magnetic to young children over the decades, like Fred Rogers, Shari Lewis of “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along” and Steve from “Blue’s Clues.” But her rise has been fueled by YouTube, rather than PBS or Nickelodeon, and enhanced by her presence on TikTok and Instagram, where her handle is @MsRachelForLittles, and where nearly eight million millennial and Gen Z parents connect to her.