GoldieBlox Inspires Engineering in Girls

As a female in a STEM career, I get super excited when girls show interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). My own daughter loves to play with LEGO’s, but has always (like her mother) been more into “boy” type toys than traditional “girl” toys. She’d rather play with at toy dragon than a Barbie. One thing that has always bothered me about “girl” targeted toys was the assumption that they all want to be pretty pretty princesses and Mommies (this also really makes me mad around Halloween time, but that’s a whole ‘nother post altogether). Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to be a Mommy, cause I LOVE being a Mom, but I’d love for more folks to “get it” when it comes to inspiring our young girls to be engineers, programmers, scientists, etc! The current field of engineering is 89% male. I have been in IT for over 12 years, and believe me when I say, it’s also still a VERY male dominated field. Yet, these are the careers that are going to continue to be in high demand and NEEDED for a very long time. All of this is why I was so excited last year when I saw the Kickstarter for GoldieBlox (they met their goal within 4 days of launching by the way!). According to their research, it wasn’t just the building of things that would get girls excited about creating and building, it was the story behind the build. This is what they based their toys around. In addition to giving you the tools and pieces necessary to build fun projects, they give you a fun story with fantastic artwork to help you build the main project and ideas to get you started on creating your own fun projects! They also created their pieces to appeal more to girls by making the pieces less boxy and more crafty. The pieces have rounded edges, utilize ribbon, and fun characters to really help bring the projects to life. Goldie is a girl inventor who loves to build. She is just the type of role model I think girls today NEED. Goldie teaches them that they can build and create anything they want. It gives them the foundations for engineering concepts. Once those foundations are in place and you realize you can solve problems by making things, a whole world of options opens up to you.

 

Like so many girls, Debbie Sterling was born an engineer…she just didn’t know it. She’s working to inspire the next generation of female engineers through GoldieBlox – a construction toy that marries storytelling with engineering, and opens the world of STEM to girls ages 5 and up. Watch the video to learn about the inspiration for GoldieBlox and the impact it’s making on girls and their families.

GoldieBlox creator Debbie Sterling is super passionate about getting girls excited about STEM careers, just as I am. Of course, I had to ask if she’s had opposition from other females that complain that there isn’t a need for a girl targeted toy like this, and that “boy” and “girl” toys shouldn’t have that distinction. Since my daughter always tends to shop in the “boy” toy isle, I’m particularly sensitive to targeted toys. While my 4 year old son does love to play with my daughter’s new GoldieBlox set, there is no doubt that it is targeted to girls, with its Purple and Pink packaging. She mentioned they tried to keep it a little more neutral with dark purples and pinks instead of super bright, but that their intention is to expose girls to these engineering concepts who may not be drawn to building toys naturally. I can definitely see the point behind this, as I try to get women who don’t normally understand technology, to be interested in learning more. It’s difficult. There is so much I want to teach women about how they can make their lives easier with technology, or how to protect their kids, and all they want to learn about is how to print instagram. It’s frustrating, and I’d love to find a way to teach them concepts with things they are interested in. I’d love to see Goldie’s mom some time teach women how to protect their kids online…. maybe a future product, right Debbie?

 

Debbie is one of the newest members of #PassionProject, an American Express ® program designed to enable, inspire and encourage people to pursue their passion projects. With #PassionProject, American Express is supporting a new generation of makers, creators and mold-breakers tapping into vibrant web communities to identify the stories of men and women living their passions every day.  Not only does American Express showcase these inspiring #PassionProjects, but Membership also enables their #PassionProject to take the next step forward thanks to the strength of the American Express network. To learn more about the members of #PassionProject and watch their stories visit their Youtube page!

 

How will GoldieBlox encourage a young girl in your life?  Answer in the comments below for a chance to win a “GoldieBlox and the Parade Float” toy!

 

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The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 11/22/13-12/20/13.

Be sure to visit the Goldieblox Brand Page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts and find more chances to win!