I’ve been following the story of GoldieBlox for a while. The toys for future innovators is the brain child of Debbie Sterling, who saw a need in the Pink Aisle of the toy store for an alternative, despite being told by leading toymakers that engineering toys for girls don’t sell.
As a parent of two girls I have been trying to find a balance between Barbie- and you should read Frog Mom’s thoughts on the plastic phenomenon- and Meccano, which my girls have decreed to be a “boy’s toy”. I am not aiming for them to eschew all the things they love, and it makes me smile when they talk about being popstars and princesses when they grow up. But I would like them to have options, to not be constricted by ideas of what girls are and are not capable of.
Which is where GoldieBlox comes in:
our goal is to get girls building. We’re here to help level the playing field in every sense of the phrase. By tapping into girls’ strong verbal skills, our story + construction set bolsters confidence in spatial skills while giving young inventors the tools they need to build and create amazing things.
Imagine my excitement when I was invited to review the sets, which are coming to the UK, since up until now I have baulked at paying International Shipping from America. We were beyond excited. And have been having hours of fun. Each set comes with a story in which the eponymous hero contructs something that saves the day. You have all the parts you need to build a parade float, a dirty-dog dunking station, and a spinning machine, which you build as the story goes along. Girls like mine like instructions, so this is a better way of getting them involved in the engineering process than dumping some Lego in front of them and leaving them to it.
The best bit is that at the end of the book you are given several other things that you can make using the tools you already have. You can go online at GoldieBlox.com to find other creations. In fact it has become Dimple’s aim to get one of her construction ideas featured on the site! It has definitely sparked her imagination. GoldieBlox certainly rocks our world.
Other comments on our experience:
When the parts are new it can be hard to slot the poles into the holes in the blocks, and parental help is needed.
In our case, the Dunking Set was supposed to have a wrap around scene that attached to the device, but the pre-punched holes were out significantly and it didn’t work.
I love that each set has multiple applications. In America you can also buy an add on kit. Hope that comes over soon!
Sets start from £19.99 at John Lewis and Amazon
Go on! You know you want to tell me what you think!