The concept of Claudia's Kids came about while their creator, Claudia Grosz, was studying for her Master's Degree in Medical Illustration at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As a child, Claudia loved to draw, and became fascinated with anatomy in grade school when she learned about the direction of blood flow through the heart. Receiving the "Visible Woman" model as a gift helped cement that fascination with anatomy as Claudia put the model together and painted it.

Once Claudia started her master's degree years later, she remembered how fascinated she was with anatomy as a child and wanted her thesis to involve educational/anatomical products for kids. Since she also enjoyed sewing, the doll seemed like a good idea.

Through her research, and by interviewing pediatricians and pre-school and early childhood education teachers, Claudia determined how kids learn at what age, and when they become aware of their physical bodies. The teachers were very excited with Claudia's idea because they found that children were especially attentive whenever they discussed anatomical issues and felt that the dolls would make a useful aid.

The original prototypes for the dolls were presented to Claudia's professors and fellow classmates, and later were displayed to the public at the university's graduate show, where they were very well received.

The great response encouraged Claudia, along with her parents Sandy and Bob, to start their business in creating and producing the dolls. Claudia has this to say about Annie, Tommy and Kelly: