A toy that tries to bridge the gap | Toddling Through the Silicon Valley | Cheryl Bac | Palo Alto Online |

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Toddling Through the Silicon Valley

By Cheryl Bac

E-mail Cheryl Bac

About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons incl...  (More)

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A toy that tries to bridge the gap

Uploaded: Nov 7, 2013
My husband and I waited to find out whether my son was going to be a boy or a girl until the day he was born. This meant our nursery had lots of white, yellow and green outfits along with nature themed toys.

While we still buy many gender neutral toys (e.g., blocks, balls, etc) my son is starting to gravitate toward trucks and trains. The problem? Well, there isn't one. However, every time we walk into a toy store, it's tough to find toys that aren't the generic "trucks for boys and dolls for girls."

That's why I love hearing about products like GoldieBlox. Debbie Sterling, the inventor and CEO, creatively paired reading and spatial tasks in an attempt to get young girls more interested in engineering. Rather than just changing a blue toy into a pink one, she cleverly changed the fundamental aspects of an engineering toy in an attempt to appeal to more girls.

What are your favorite toys that break the mold?
Democracy.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by Jessica T., a resident of Menlo Park: other,
on Nov 21, 2013 at 10:15 am

I'm really excited to see the offerings that GoldieBlox comes up with - I love their commercial challenging the norms of toys for girls: Web Link


Posted by Cheryl Bac, a Palo Alto Online blogger,
on Nov 21, 2013 at 10:34 am

Cheryl Bac is a registered user.

Jessica T - Me too! That commercial is adorable.  Thanks so much for sharing the link. If you end up buying any of the products, I'd love to hear about your daughter's reaction. Do you have any favorite toys that "break the mold"?


Posted by Jessica T., a resident of Menlo Park: other,
on Nov 26, 2013 at 2:23 pm

Free to Be You and Me is a classic!!


Posted by Cheryl Bac, a Palo Alto Online blogger,
on Nov 26, 2013 at 3:08 pm

Cheryl Bac is a registered user.

Jessica T - Thanks for commenting! Free to be You and Me sounds like a book with a great message. We'll have to check it out.


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