What’s the Hype About GoldieBlox?

As I watched a very dismal Super Bowl game last night (that safety on the kick-off definitely set the tone), my interest was peeked by the GoldieBlox commercial.

As a mom of a preschool boy, I admit I’m not always on top of “girl” toys, and I also just don’t adhere to girl or boy toys and think let them all play with whatever they wish.

That said, I had to go look up the GoldieBlox today to find out what this toy line is all about that is all about debunking the pink in the aisle of toys for girls. GoldieBlox is a start-up toy company that makes construction and engineering kits for girls. The more I read about the company, I find the story behind it almost more inspiring than what they are making.

The company started via a Kickstarter campaign last year by a Stanford-trained female engineer Debbie Sterling. Her $4 million ad that aired last night on the Super Bowl was the result of entering an contest hosted by Intuit that was decided by a public vote. I say yay for pulling up the bootstraps to make it happen. That kind of motivation and dedication is worthy or recognizing and teaching our children!

So as for what are these GoldieBlox? Each kit comes with a construction toy and book that features Goldie, a girl on a mission to solve problems by building machines. I like the concept, I liked the commercial, however the commercial did not tell me at all what GoldieBlox was about, but it made me want to know more.

I like this idea of getting away from gender-specific toys, but even more I like the idea of making more toys and books that showcase boys and girls working together, and not just a girl or boy doing one or the other. 

I find my little guy is already starting to define “girl” activities and “boy” activities. When we read books that show boys and girls doing things together, it takes away that stigma of either. My two cents for the day on that. And here’s hoping next year is actually a real game worth watching.