10 Holiday STEM Gifts for Girls 2022
Bringing Joy and Inspiration
Before you start your holiday shopping, I encourage you to reflect on the power of your choices. Marketing, stereotypes, and routines help shape our shopping lists and our imaginations. They may also limit what we introduce to girls. It’s not that we are trying to limit girls’ options, but we are less likely to consider toys and games that encourage girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We can change that. Let’s give gifts that support girls’ creativity and confidence and expand their options.
New research from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and the LEGO Group shows girls are discouraged from STEM from a young age. For instance, 80 percent of boys are encouraged to code at a young age, compared with only 20 percent of girls. As part of the Ready for Girls campaign, parents were asked about their toy preferences. Seventy-six percent of parents said they would encourage their sons to play with LEGO sets, compared with just 24 percent who would consider LEGO sets for their daughters. Read the Ready for Girls Creativity Study and learn what you can do to inspire creative play in girls.
Here are 10 ideas to bring STEM to girls and increase their confidence and choices. This year’s list puts priority on gifts that are affordable and experiences that are free. I encourage you to shop local and support the small businesses and STEM institutions in your community.
1. Challenge stereotypes with building toys. LEGO toys are fun and build spatial skills. I especially appreciate open-ended toys like the classic LEGO sets and wooden blocks where girls create their own designs instead of one-and-done projects where they just follow directions. For younger girls, DUPLO building sets and Bristle Blocks are easy to push together and pull apart for building and expressing creativity.
For more ideas to spark a child’s interest in STEM, check out the STEAM Playbook created by the Genius of Play in partnership with the National Girls Collaborative Project. Every play idea includes tips for making the activity simpler or more complex. Projects, which include making rainbow milk and creating a marshmallow sculpture, are easy to set up and use materials you can easily find around the house.
2. Inspire a love of reading and STEM. A Mighty Girl offers an expansive collection of science and technology books about girls and women who love STEM. I found inspiration in The Bug Girl written by Sophia Spencer with Margaret McNamara, which tells the true story of a girl who was bullied for loving bugs and who found support from the entomology community of scientists. For more books that celebrate creativity, persistence, and the joy of figuring things out, check out the Best STEM Books K-12: 2022 by the National Science Teaching Association. For recommendations that build on your child’s interests, ask your child’s science teacher or the children’s librarian at your public library for their suggestions.
Reading together is a special way to foster the love of reading and connect with your child. You don’t have to stop reading aloud when your child is older. Some of the most memorable moments in my family involved reading aloud when my son was in elementary and middle school. The books grew more advanced, and our connections remained strong and tender.
3. Bring joy to math. Math anxiety can hold back children and adults from learning and using math in our everyday lives. It doesn’t have to be. One of my favorite reads on overcoming the fear of math is Family Math: Facing the Mathephant in the Room, a blog by Rebecca Honig and Françoise Lartigue. For books that weave math into meaningful stories check out the Storytelling Math Project based at TERC. I especially appreciate Look Grandma! Ni, Elisa! by Art Coulson that makes math approachable, features diverse characters, and weaves in repeated tries and multiple solutions.
What better way to practice math than while measuring and transforming ingredients into tasty creations. Set a play date to make family recipes and celebrate your family’s heritage. Invite relatives to share their favorite recipes. You can find STEM cooking and baking projects at Bedtime Math. For Bedtime Math founder, Laura Overdeck, “math was an ingredient in everyday fun activities around the house. Her mom introduced her early to baking, which was a yummy way to count and use fractions.”
4. Watch media and deepen a child’s interest in STEM. Watch a show with your child and talk about its message and characters. With young children, check out The Eggventurers, a new animated show about a crew of eggs who build Rube Goldberg-style contraptions to solve problems. This show is co-produced by Debbie Sterling, the founder of GoldieBlox and can be found on the GoldieBlox YouTube channel and the YouTube Kids app. For background on the development of this show, read Debbie’s inspiring personal story. With older girls, check out Mission Unstoppable which airs Saturday mornings on CBS and is hosted by Miranda Cosgrove. Nicole Small, CEO of Lyda Hill Philanthropies, shares, “We invested in Mission Unstoppable, a collaboration with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and Litton Entertainment, to feature trailblazing women on the cutting edge of science…We hope that by spotlighting these amazing female role models in media, we will change the narrative and inspire young girls to open their eyes to STEM careers.”
5. Build confidence with tools. Girls like to make things and work with their hands when given the chance. Get a girl her own set of tools so that she can build a bird feeder, design a community project, or repair a bike tire. Working with tools can empower girls and build their confidence in STEM. Look for a program like Girls Garage where girls can build in the company of girls. Learn more from Girls Garage: How to Use Any Tool, Tackle Any Project, and Build the World You Want to See. A Mighty Girl offers a selection of building projects, toys, and toolsets. For more inspiration, have a look at Girls Who Build that showcases girls who hammer, drill, solder, and wire projects for themselves and others.
6. Reimagine holiday gift-giving traditions. Instead of buying new things, give the gift of your time and attention. What’s it take to inspire a lifelong interest in STEM? It’s not rocket science! It’s the gift of talk from parents and caregivers. Put down your cell phone, be present in the moment, and invite your girl to talk about her ideas and dreams. Listen and show your interest with follow-up questions that invite her to expand upon her ideas. After toys are unwrapped, actively engage by getting on the floor and playing. Did you know that it’s your encouragement that matters most in encouraging girls in STEM? Encouragement takes the form of simple acts like asking a question, inviting a girl to show you what she’s working on, and asking her to teach you. When she is ready for new challenges, explore Do Try This at Home by the Lemelson Center. Look through the activities and find projects to try together.
7. Save cardboard from gifts and deliveries. Brainstorm, design, measure (and redesign and measure again) and bring new life to an old box. You can encourage your child to use her imagination to reduce your family’s use of cardboard. I love the picture book Nellie Gnu and Daddy Too by Anna Dewdney in which Nellie and her dad build a playhouse from a large cardboard box. Each reading of this picture book inspires new ideas in our family for transforming cardboard into a train, rocket ship, or artist studio. Boxitects by Kim Smith presents two girls who learn to work together and create amazing projects from cardboard. Our family reimagined a box from a large appliance into a playhouse for my son. Thirty years later we are building new creations for our grandchildren. Start your family tradition building with cardboard.
8. Plan a family visit to a park, zoo, aquarium, or science or technology museum. Support these community assets that entertain and educate with their programs and exhibits. Plan your visit in advance and invite your child to chart her visit. You can find science activities to do at home that are created by museums. Here are some to check out — Science at Home from the Museum of Science and Industry, Science @ Home from the California Academy of Sciences, Family-Friendly Snacks from the Exploratorium, and Family STEM Activities from the Museum of Science, Boston.
Did you know that parents explain exhibits to sons more than to daughters during trips to the museum? With this insight from research, you can be more aware of giving girls their fair share of time and attention on your visit.
9. If you can, support girls in your community with gifts that inspire science and math. Reach out to organizations that help families in shelters and local food banks along with those that host holiday programs like the USPS Operation Santa and Toys for Tots. With your gift, you can help more girls achieve their potential for greatness as inventors and creative STEM leaders.
10. Think big and support girls 365 days a year. With the Million Girls Moonshot, STEM Next Opportunity Fund is re-imagining who can engineer, who can build, who can invent. It is inspiring the next generation of innovators by engaging one million more girls in STEM opportunities by 2025. Learn more and lend your support to this cause. Spread the word to role models, educators, and families. Encourage a girl to explore STEM opportunities like the Million Girls Moonshot Flight Crew. Make a donation and join the movement.
I dedicate this blog to my husband, Norman Wong, who died November 4, 2022. When he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and throughout his journey with the disease, Norman expressed gratitude for living a life that was filled with adventures and opportunities to pursue his passions. He loved his work that allowed him to tinker and take on challenges. He loved his family and there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t try and do to help them. Working with our son, Kyle, on home improvement projects brought him much joy. Norman’s only regret was that he wouldn’t be around to see his grandchildren, Chelsea and Ryan, grow up. Teaching them to ride bikes, build and fly kites, use power tools, ski, ride a canoe, and fish were dreams he often spoke lovingly of. While we won’t be able to introduce them in as fun and unique way as Norman, our family will do our best to keep his legacy alive.
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Linda Kekelis, Ph.D. I am an advisor for The Family Engagement Project for STEM Next Opportunity Fund. I have devoted my lifetime to supporting families, educators, and role models in encouraging girls in STEM. I enjoy getting down on the floor with my grandchildren and building with LEGOs, blocks, and cardboard and looking for bugs, flowers, and feral cats during scavenger hunts on our walks through the neighborhood.
