A Mighty Girl's top picks of the books, pretend play toys, and tool sets to encourage Mighty Girl builders!

Whether you're putting together a bookshelf, wiring a light switch, or swapping a kitchen faucet, there's tremendous satisfaction in building something yourself! However, when you picture a carpentry hobbyist or a construction worker, chances are good the person you picture is male. Girls and women have often been discouraged from picking up tools, whether they're interested in trying some basic home repairs or considering a skilled trade as a career. As a result, the percentage of women in skilled trades jobs has been under 9% nationwide for decades. However, with the rise in popularity of DIY, girls are increasingly discovering that they can design, build, and fix things on their own! Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of girl-empowering pretend play toys!

Remember spending hours enjoying imaginary play? Most adults fondly recall hours, days, and sometimes years of pretending — from career dress-up to action figure adventures to playing house. These flights of fancy develop all sorts of skills in our kids, from cooperating with other kids to understanding of how our world works, but most importantly, they are lots of fun!

To spark your Mighty Girl's imagination this holiday, we've collected a selection of our favorite pretend play toys. Unlike toys and games that move a storyline in one direction, these flexible toys encourage kids to create — and recreate! — their own stories. Whether she's dreaming of superheroes or space travel, cooking or caring for patients, there's something in our recommendations that's sure to catch her attention and prompt even more exciting play. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of empowering dolls and action figures for all ages!

Dolls and figurines have been favorite pretend play toys for hundreds of years, but there are a lot more choices now than there were in the past! Today, dolls and action figures can represent historical figures; popular book, TV, and movie characters; or people from around the world. With more options available, kids can imagine themselves as just about anything!

If you’ve been looking for a unique doll or exciting action figure for your Mighty Girl, you'll find dozens of our favorites in this blog post. From cuddly plushes for the littlest kids to highly detailed action figures and collectibles for older kids, teens, and even adults, there’s something here for everyone!

For more empowering toys of all varieties, from science to active play, visit our 2016 Girl Empowerment Holiday Gift Guide and our 2016 Holiday Guide blog series. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

“Play is the work of childhood.” — Jean Piaget

Today is Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day, a day in which children all over the world will shadow parents or other mentors through a day at their jobs. Carolyn McKecuen, the president of the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day Foundation, shares the value of these experiences:

“Exposing girls and boys to what a parent or mentor in their lives does during the workday is important, but showing them the value of their education, helping them discover the power and possibilities associated with a balanced work and family life, and providing them an opportunity to share how they envision the future and begin steps toward their end goals in a hands-on and interactive environment is key to their achieving success.... By bringing girls and boys together, we will continue to create a more equitable world — at home, at school, in the workplace, and in the community.”

For children younger than 8, however, a day of job shadowing probably isn’t feasible. How can you provide them with some of the benefits that older kids get from a day at work? One great way is to give them pretend play toys that allow them to roleplay different careers. With that in mind, A Mighty Girl has selected ten toys from our Career / Jobs Collection of pretend play toys to feature. Each toy represents a different career that your Mighty Girl might aspire to, from astronaut to veterinarian. So, let her get down to work with some serious play! Continue reading → Continue reading