A few years ago, my now 9-year-old daughter had an epiphany while wandering the toy aisles at a discount superstore. She eyed a pink toy vacuum cleaner with suspicion, then asked to go to the boys' aisle instead, because she wanted to be where the bulk of the cool building sets were.
In the last few years, there have been serious strides in STEM toys geared toward girls, but it's this one that I wish had been on the market on that fateful shopping day.
Related: 12 cool STEM gifts for girls (and hey, for boys too)
Wonderhood Toys is the brainchild of two business-school moms who were tired of the statistics -- like, that women make up 48% of the workforce today but hold only 24% of all STEM jobs -- suggesting that girls feel discouraged from pursuing or learning about science, technology, engineering, and math. In response, these mompreneurs created two building toy sets that encourage architectural design and structural engineering: the Wonderhood Grand Hotel and the Wonderhood Corner Shops. Along with interchangeable intricately illustrated panels, each set comes with an activity journal, filled with design challenges and building problems for kids to solve alongside their 3-D engineers (also included). The figurines act as friends and guides, but they could reasonably be guinea pigs, too, helping your kid test out the working elevator in the hotel or deciding whether placing a staircase in the middle of an ice cream shop is a good idea. With toys like these, it's safe to say that those STEM stats are sure to change. Girls (and boys!) can help build their skills in science, technology, engineering, and math with these awesome sets from Wonderhood Toys.
