Hot Wheels & Lewis Hamilton's Mission 44 inspire kids to take on new challenges

To help inform the new platform, Hot Wheels consulted with Mindset Works, a global leader in growth mindset development to uncover insights, learnings and tools that further its mission and help spark that challenger spirit in young children during a key developmental stage of life.

The research surveyed parents and children and found that 77% of children ages four to eight believe they can learn anything with effort. However, 71% of parents surveyed report stepping in when their children face small challenges to protect their self-esteem, which could result in missed opportunities to foster a growth mindset, or the understanding that we can develop our abilities and intelligence, that is critical to developing the resilience needed to succeed.

Through the Challenge Accepted platform, Hot Wheels is nurturing the power that interactive play has in igniting the challenger spirit in everyone, especially children. In fact, the research showed that children who play often with Hot Wheels toys are 32% more likely to be eager to take on new challenges with trial and error, ultimately leading to growth.

“Very young children typically act in ways that seem quite growth mindset-based, but around age five, they become more vulnerable to developing fixed mindset beliefs about their abilities as they enter school, form more complex concepts of themselves, and are subject to a new set of expectations and evaluation from adults and peers,” said Dr. Lisa Blackwell, co-founder of Mindset Works. “All of these factors can contribute to children developing fixed mindsets and deter them from manifesting the challenger spirit. As adults, we can play a critical role in fostering children’s growth mindsets, including through play with toys.”

As part of its commitment, Hot Wheels is launching the Hot Wheels Challenger Spirit Fund to empower the next generation of children by providing resources and opportunities that foster a growth mindset. The inaugural partner of the Hot Wheels Challenger Spirit Fund is Mission 44, a charity founded by Seven Time Formula One Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, working to create a fairer, more inclusive future for young people around the world. Through its work, Mission 44 is investing in solutions that empower young people to overcome social injustice and succeed, with a focus on building more inclusive education systems and empowering the next generation of leaders in STEM.

“Hot Wheels has always been focused on ‘igniting the challenger spirit’ in every child and we strive to build meaningful partnerships to help us further that mission while making a real impact through play,” said Roberto Stanichi, Executive Vice President, Hot Wheels & Head of Vehicles and Building Sets. “We’re honored to work with a partner like Mission 44 and have Sir Lewis Hamilton’s organisation be the first Challenger Spirit Fund recipient helping us launch our new Challenge Accepted platform. Together, we’ll help inspire and encourage children to take on new challenges both on and off the track.”

On October 17th, Hot Wheels will be bringing Challenge Accepted to life at Mission 44’s youth STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) inspiration event at the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack in Austin, Texas. Hot Wheels designers will be on-site with Mission 44 to teach young people about the physics behind Hot Wheels, exploring toy building challenges, and speak to the idea of “Try. Fail. Repeat. Grow.”

Jason Arthur, CEO of Mission 44, said: “When Sir Lewis Hamilton launched Mission 44, it was with the ambition to create a fairer, more inclusive future for young people around the world. Together with Hot Wheels and their Challenger Spirit Fund, we will be able to unlock the power and potential of young people, no matter what their background. I'm delighted to launch the partnership and immediately get to work at the United States Grand Prix, bringing young people from underrepresented backgrounds to track to explore the world of STEM, motorsport and Hot Wheels.”