GoldieBlox Review: Keeping Our Girls Excited about Math and Science

I am a HUGE fan of getting kids involved in STEAM (STEM + Art) activities. (I’ve even released several STEAM E-books!) Last month, I had the opportunity to host a GoldieBlox Bash with our friends and review the parade float.

This month, I get to show you their newest products!!! It is so exciting to get to try out the latest STEM toys for my kids. Read on to find out more.

Affiliate Links+ Sponsored Post

I am honored to be chosen by Mom Dot Media to review  GoldieBlox and the Builder’s Survival Kit, GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine as well.  This is a sponsored post, but the opinions are 100% my own. I’m including Amazon Affiliate Links to the products.  If you click on the picture, it will give you a more detailed description of each product.

Keeping Our Girls Excited about Math and Science

I don’t want my daughter to lose interest in math, science, and engineering.

I want to provide her with opportunities to explore and have fun in these areas, so I have made STEAM and STEM activities after school a priority.  Sure, we sew, read, bake, and garden together (traditional “girly things”), but we also build, design, and experiment too (I also call these “girly things”).

As a Mom, I was most excited about GoldieBlox and the Builder’s Survival Kit.  It is a huge box with lots of tiny – I want to tinker with you – kind of parts to build with inside. (WARNING – they are chokers and need to be out of reach for children under 3)

My 8 year old daughter LOVED the parade kit we reviewed last month and it has sparked many hours of building in our household.  I couldn’t wait to see what happened when she opened a kit designed for older kids (8-12).

The colors of the building blocks are awesome.  We both were oohing and aaahing as we took them out of the package.  She skimmed through the book and landed on the spinning tea cups (the biggest and most challenging design and announced, “I am going to make this one.”

After about 30 minutes, she was totally overwhelmed and on the brink of tears.

“I quit.” She said and left the room.

My heart sunk.  This was NOT the way I had planned for this GoldieBlox set to go.  What went wrong?  Why was she not excited about learning? How come these were so much more complicated than the last set?

And then it made sense.  The new set is designed for our older girls – not just to get them excited about learning and building, but to keep them challenged and excited about tackling new tasks.

There will always be hard problems, with lots of little parts in life.  It will get overwhelming.

I gave her a hug.

The next day, I recommended that we take a break and try one of the easier ones to get familiar with the new pieces.  Instead of letting her explore on her own, I sat beside her. We also talked about making a plan of how to start and finish the project.

1. Read through all the instructions before beginning.
2. Starting with an easier project gives you the opportunity to explore how the new materials work.

3. Set out all of the necessary parts for the entire project before beginning. Somehow, we have already lost a little blue thingy. Luckily, the pieces all work together, so we just slightly altered the plan and stuck another piece in it’s place. For me, being able to problem solve is.

4. Use the instructions to help you build.  Too often, our girls are not exposed to informational text and building manuals.  This kind of text is read differently and often we need to teach them how to read effectively.  

Many standardized test will include non-fiction and informational text, so we are also teaching them to read for a variety of purposes.

5. Go in step-by-step order.  Use spatial reasoning, counting, reading a diagram and problem solving as you build.

6. Celebrate when you finish and plan your next project!  A pat on the back, a little happy dance, or even a smile completes the challenge on a good note.

GoldieBlox has helped my daughter get and stay excited about math, science, and engineering! I look forward to seeing her grow, learn, and interact with them in the upcoming months. It is my hope that she will be able to build the challenges as well as create her own.

If you are looking for a gift for your child – I would highly recommend GoldieBlox.  They would make a great birthday or holiday gift for girls.

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