Play Matters: Engineering with Goldie Blox
Posted by aMuse Toys on July 30, 2013 0 Comments
Goldie Blox is an innovative building set designed with little girls in mind. Historically, as girls grow up they gravitate towards play that involves creating, imagining, pretending and reading. Little boys are typically more interested in the mechanics of their toys. They want to know how things work. What makes cars go? How do buildings get so tall? Naturally, there is a divide in the workplace once all of these little girls and little boys grow up to find themselves selecting a career field.
The creator of Goldie Blox is Debbie Sterling. Sterling was one of few graduating females in her class of engineers at Stanford University. Her mission is to close the gender gap in the fields of STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics] and she's doing that with Goldie Blox. When Sterling began her work on prototypes, she wanted to make something that would encourage girls to explore basic building and engineering concepts without giving up their love of stories and pretend play. The culmination of her research and hours of play is Goldie Blox and the Spinning Machine, a story and building set that follows a girl who loves to read and build.
Goldie Blox is designed to be an addition to the ever-growing collection of princess outfits, baby dolls and all things pink. In fact, in its latest media advertisement, Goldie Blox proclaims a disruption of "the pink aisle." Don't get us wrong, there's nothing wrong with a little pink. Goldie Blox is simply an engaging way to encourage high-level thinking and promote all areas of the STEM initiative without taking away the comforts and familiarity of reading and pretending.
Just Some Smart Young Ladies Causing Disruption
This story begins by introducing Goldie Blox as a girl who likes to solve problems by building simple machines. Then, Goldie asks you to build a machine with her to help out her friends. As the story progresses, so does the building. By the end of the story, Goldie and her friends are happy and your little one has just built a working machine. And, she doesn't have to stop there. She can take apart the finished machine and see what else she can build on her own.
A Look into Goldie's Story
When your little one follows along with Goldie's story, she's working on her reading and verbal skills. When she adds pieces to the machine, she's fine tuning her spatial reasoning and problem solving skills. Goldie Blox will eventually expand into a complete series of books and building sets. Readers will be introduced to more friends, like Ruby Goldberg and Axl Rosie (We love it!). There will be more machines and engineering concepts to explore, like force and friction!
Goldie and Her Motley Crew
Goldie Blox is suggested for ages 4 to 9 years old. If you would like to learn more about Goldie Blox and the Spinning Machine or ways to include STEM learning in your everyday play, please visit us at our Fells Point or Quarry Lake location.
Play Matters: eeBoo "Always Good"
Posted by aMuse Toys on May 09, 2013 1 Comment
eeBoo's motto, "Always Good," rings true in the collection we've brought back to aMuse! From flash cards and games to craft projects and story building activities, this company's dedication to creating engaging, educational products aligns very nicely with the aMuse mission of providing beautiful, purposeful playthings. Check out our selection!
Alphabet Phonics Flash Cards: Explaining to a child that our alphabet is home to 26 letters that produce 44 sounds along with other abstract concepts associated with English language acquisition is no easy task! eeBoo's phonics-based flash cards provide visual associations that simplify the relationship between sounds and the letters that we use to represent them. The images provided on each card enhance vocabulary, word recognition and fluency in a kid-friendly format. It's never too early to start adapting this set of flash cards to meet your little one's developmental needs. Color recognition, animal sound & habitat identification and pattern building are just a few examples of extension activities that you can build into your child's play.
Bilingual Flash Cards: Second-language learning research has shown that the greatest window for language acquisition and bilingualism occurs before the age of seven. This series of bilingual flash cards depicts word-picture associations that are recognizable to children at a young age. So take advantage of teaching your child a new langage during the optimum time for learning without difficulty and understanding of appropriate syntax. aMuse has sets in French and Spanish!
Opposites & Rhyming Flash Cards: Concepts such as opposites and rhyming are often introduced through play as early as 9 months. These sets are great for vocabulary expansion and provide opportunities for environmental exploration. Making connections that are meaningful and relevant to your child can greatly impact their processing and metacognition.
I Never Forget a Face Matching Game: Teaching your children the importance of multiculturalism through the celebration of diversity fosters compassion and is an excellent way to help him or her develop a sense of identity. This matching game encourages attention to detail, visual perception and acuity in a simple memory/matching format.
United States Bingo: Help your little one develop geo-literacy by playing a round of U.S. Bingo! Explore the idea that we are all connected through the decisions that we make every day. From what we eat to where we shop, there are cultural norms and unique representations of state-specific items that can be identified throughout our daily activities!
