I think this is a marvelous idea, and so late in coming.
My daughter truly disliked the dollhouses, and Barbie's my mother gave her as gifts, but after I bought her Star Wars figures and Lego's she would not stop playing with them. In fact THAT fueled her desire to create set designs, and to make movies, which is what she does now.
I think we now realize that teaching little girls to be princesses, housewives, and mommies is outdated. But a present that teaches them that they can be ANYTHING, now that is a gift worth giving.
I never liked playing with dolls. However, I enjoyed playing with my brothers' hot wheels. I love cars. I work on my own car and had scored high in mechanics. Of course, I'm a race car fan.
ReplyDeleteI was a little girl who loved dolls, tea sets, play houses, and all the traditional girly stuff. But you have to take in account, I was brought up in the 50's.
ReplyDeleteI am 64 now.
Soon to be 63 here. I play with my 5-y-old grandson's Legos long past the point where he's gone on to something else. I'm actually glad when he leaves me alone with all those pieces. A real kick when they snap in place just like the diagram indicated. Of course, he assembles without the diagram!
DeleteMe too (63). Honestly, my mom just wanted me to be like the other girls. I hated the dolls, but am glad she taught me to sew and knit. (That saved a lot of money when I had my own kids.) Fortunately, my dad taught me the mysteries of the internal combustion engine and took me out to look for Sputnik (anyone remember that?) and I turned out to be an engineer after all
DeleteMy six year old grand daughter got into the Disney Princess whirlwind by age two. However, a year ago, her mom gave away all her dolls as she was not playing with them. What occupies her time? Legos. She is in kindergarten, reading a year ahead, doing math, writing her own stories and illustrating them...and spending past of each evening building. She can follow the directions on Legos rated for ages 7-12. She is a truly beautiful child, and loves her dance class, but she has her dad and grand dads' analytical brain too. And we will keep nurturing all the wonderful parts of her. And oh yeah, she is kind to her pets and generous with her playthings. She'll be a great mom or engineer or dancer someday...if that's what SHE wants.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this! My favorite toy when I was a kid was American Bricks. It was kind of like Legos. I was always building houses and other buildings. I hope this young woman is successful with this product.
ReplyDeleteLegos, Tinkertoys, Lincoln Logs, Breyer horses and GIJoes. I still have them from when I was a kid and gave them to my daughter to play with. Some of the Breyers, the nice un-played with ones, were worth tons of money so I sold them (one fetched over $1000) and put the money into a college account for my daughter.
ReplyDeleteTINKERTOYS !!! and i grew up to be a woman engineer.
ReplyDeletei will be ordering a set or two of GoldieBlox.
Much to my mothers dismay, I was born a tomboy. She accepted the fact that she wouldnt be able to dress me up in holiday dresses, since i would strip down to my diapers the second the dress came on.
ReplyDeleteShe, however, fostered and encouraged creativity in me by buying me Legos and art sets. I was one of the very few, if only, child who was allowed to draw on their bedroom walls.
She encouraged me to create my own toys and games, and bought me my first sewing machine at five years old so I could make my own stuffed animals.
I've been making my own clothes since high school, and now design and create clothing and homegoods for a living.
I have my mother to thank for that, as she is an artist herself, for never stifling my creativity.
Talk about so many grammar mistakes that you can't read without being distracted. *cringe*
ReplyDeleteMy daughter truly disliked the dollhouses, (remove comma here) and Barbie's (remove apostrophe here) my mother gave her as gifts, but after I bought her Star Wars figures and Lego's (remove apostrophe and add comma here) she would not stop playing with them. In fact (add comma here) THAT fueled her desire to create set designs,(remove comma here) and to make movies, which is what she does now.
You know who else obsessively corrected grammar ;-)
DeleteNow shoo, go create your own grammatically perfect blog and bother us no more!
grammarnazi
DeleteI was lucky growing up. (I'm 58)
ReplyDeleteWe had to share all our toys. Granted my brother didn't want to play with my Barbies, I didn't want to play with his G.I. Joes.
But we shared the Tinker Toys, Legos, Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets. My Dad would buy them at swap meets so our collection would grow. He also bought a microscope and a chemistry set. I'm the one that played with those.
Did I become a scientist?
No.
My parents allowed us all to follow our own paths.
I got a degree in music and went in to teaching. They were not pleased because they didn't feel I would "make any money" at teaching. But they supported me. When I got my first masters. When I got my second masters 25 years later they attended my graduation.
Now that I am approaching retirement, they are proud of my accomplishments. (two masters, four credentials and NBCT) and given what has happened to the economy accept that my choice wasn't such a poor one after all. While I never "made any money", I own a modest home, my car is paid off and I'll have a modest pension when I retire.
My parents never compartmentalized our learning or our interests. My Dad taught me to use tools and fix things. When I took an interest, he taught me. (Everything except Pinocle.)
As a homeowner I'm proud that I can rewire a lamp, sweat a copper pipe and reseat a toilet. I also mud and tape and install tile.
I think she has the right idea that girls need good toys, not just pink dollhouses, but not sure if I think the product looks all that special.
ReplyDeleteEver since my daughter would play with toys we would offer her legos (Duplo), science books, clothes in various shades of blue, yellow and green and if we let her watch TV it would be something educational often animal fact shows, etc. I've never dissuaded her from anything because she was a girl and always encouraged her physical play.
ReplyDeleteGuess what? She's seven and still finds the most joy in dressing dolls, baking cakes, and sewing. She's great in art and reading, but still prefers "girls" books and dressing up.
What's my point? Just because my daughter plays with dolls doesn't mean gender roles have been foisted upon her or that she's some victim of the patriarchy. It's what she likes, it is innate, and no one should give her any guff about it.
She's a girly-girl and happy to be that way--nothing wrong with that. I'm going to encourage her and enjoy her anyway from now until she turns 13 and then resume my enjoyment when she's about 19.
Let's also teach them by example that doing things on the internet like 'FAT-SHAMING' is not cool or acceptable, no matter how much you dislike your target.
ReplyDeleteI love the entire concept. Yeah, I got the "pink, girl version" of the building toys, but my parents DID do something nice, which I've passed on to my kids. We all got REAL toolchests and our own collection of tools would grow with each holiday or birthday. Came in handy a lot of times over the years.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like most about this product is how she ties in the building material with a visual game geared to how girls think and interact with their environment.
This looks wonderful. I was looking for something special for my niece and this looks like it will fit the bill. What a great toy :)
ReplyDeletePretty good idea but she might have a problem with her logo.
ReplyDeleteIt immediately reminded me of the "Golden Books" and "Little Golden Books" logos.
Just sayin'
GypsyGirl