A Mighty Girl's top picks of science toys for curious Mighty Girls of all ages!
Kids are full of curiosity about how the world works, so why not give them a gift that helps them explore it? With a high-quality science kit or toy, kids can incorporate the wonder of the everyday world into their play. In fact, it's amazing how much they can learn that way! Continue reading Continue reading
A Mighty Girl's top picks of STEM-themed games for all ages!
"Science is not a boy's game, it's not a girl's game. It's everyone's game." — Nichelle Nichols
When a baby drops a block over and over, she's doing what humans do naturally: turning science into a game! Playful experimentation is the first step to a lifetime of STEM learning. As kids get older, however, they can lose that creative spirit and start seeing learning about science and math as a chore, rather than a fun and exciting way to discover the wonders of the universe. Continue reading Continue reading
This trailblazing mathematician built the geodetic model of the Earth that became the foundation for GPS.
If you rely on your GPS for directions, you can thank a mathematician whose little-known contributions to the mathematical modeling of the Earth recently earned her one of the U.S. Air Force's highest honors: induction into the Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame! Dr. Gladys West, like the "human computers" at NASA who became famous with the book Hidden Figures, began her career by performing the complex hand calculations required before the computer age. However, her greatest accomplishment was the creation of an extremely detailed geodetic model of the Earth which became the foundation for the Global Positioning System. Although GPS is ubiquitous today, West says that in the moment, she wasn't thinking about the future: "When you’re working every day, you’re not thinking, ‘What impact is this going to have on the world?’" she says. "You’re thinking, ‘I’ve got to get this right.'" Continue reading Continue reading
A Mighty Girl's top picks of math toys and games for curious Mighty Girls from toddlers to teens.
Math is all around us! From making a purchase to doubling a recipe to estimating how much longer a trip will take, we use math every day. Yet for many people there's a pervasive myth that you're either "good at math" or "bad at math" — that it's a talent you're born with, not a skill you can grow and develop with practice. And this misperception often has a significant effect on girls, who are prone to believing that their math ability is innate and that girls are less gifted at math than boys. Continue reading Continue reading
A Mighty Girl's top picks of picture books starring math-loving girls!
Kids are natural mathematicians: they count, they categorize, they figure out patterns and they explore shapes and geometry. Even though many people think of math as simply numbers and equations, the truth is that math is everywhere in the world and in everything we do, from pouring a drink to building a block tower to saving allowance money for a special treat! And when we share stories with our kids that celebrate both the practicalities and the wonders of math, we can give them a strong foundation for becoming life-long math lovers — a trait that will suit them well whatever their future holds. Continue reading Continue reading
Experts offer tips for parents on building girls' confidence in math.
“Why do smart people enjoy saying that they are bad at math?” laments Petra Bonfert-Taylor, a professor of engineering at Dartmouth College. “Few people would consider proudly announcing that they are bad at writing or reading.” After seeing one too many examples of adults “passing on [mathematical anxiety] like a virus,” Bonfert-Taylor has an important message for math-phobic parents and educators: “We are passing on from generation to generation the phobia for mathematics... [and] as a result, too many of us have lost the ability to examine a real-world problem, translate it into numbers, solve the problem and interpret the solution.” Continue reading Continue reading
Katherine Johnson calculated -- by hand -- the flight trajectories for a number of historic missions, including the Apollo 11 flight to the Moon in 1969.
When President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Katherine Johnson in 2015, few people had even heard her name — but thanks to the smash success of the book Hidden Figures and its movie adaptation, this groundbreaking mathematician has become an inspiration for girls everywhere! Continue reading Continue reading
From workbooks from trusted brands like Highlights, School Zone, and Brain Quest to new series that incorporate popular characters from Star Wars and Minecraft, there's a workbook in our new round-up that every child will love!
Whether you'd like to supplement your children's remote classes or are planning on homeschooling this year, many parents are looking for ways to make at-home learning easier for the new school year. A high-quality workbook can be revolutionary for a child, allowing them to move at their own pace, tying the abstract lesson they're learning into topics that interest them, and fostering a sense of independence and self-confidence. It's no wonder that demand for children's academic workbooks is at an all-time high! Continue reading Continue reading
"I find that I am bored with anything I understand," says Abel Prize winner Dr. Karen Uhlenbeck.
American mathematician Karen Uhlenbeck has become the first woman to win the Abel Prize — the "Nobel Prize" of mathematics! The 76-year-old professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin and visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton has made wide-ranging advances in mathematics that influence many sciences, including quantum physics and string theory, and pioneered a new field of mathematics called geometric analysis. "She did things nobody thought about doing, and after she did, she laid the foundations of a branch of mathematics," says Sun-Yung Alice Chang, a Princeton mathematician who sat on the prize committee. Hans Munthe-Kaas, chair of the Abel Committee, added that "her perspective has pervaded the field and led to some of the most dramatic advances in mathematics over the last 40 years." Continue reading Continue reading
A Mighty Girl's top picks of science, math, and programming toys for curious Mighty Girls from toddlers to teens.
Kids are full of curiosity about how the world works, so why not give them a way to better explore it? With a high-quality science kit or toy, kids can incorporate the wonder of the everyday world into their play. In fact, it's amazing how much they can learn that way!
In this blog post, you'll find our favorite science, math, and programming toys and kits for curious kids of all ages. Whether you know a would-be star-gazer, a budding biologist, or an eager young robotics specialist, there are options here that will fascinate them. And who knows? Play alongside them and you might just learn something new too.
For books starring girls and women who love science, check out our blog posts: Ignite Her Curiosity: 25 Books Starring Science-Loving Mighty Girls and Those Who Dared To Discover: 15 Women Scientists You Should Know. And, for more fun STEM-related toys and kits, visit our Science & Math Toy Collection.
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