If you’re tired of your kids’ obsession with trading Pokemon cards (yeah, us too), we’ve found a totally cool, totally feminist alternative: Persistent Sisters trading cards featuring activists, scientists, artists, and other trailblazing women in history.
Seriously, how awesome are these?
The project is the brainchild of artist Ellen Schaeffer and designer Tamara Hoffbauer, who were inspired to make these cards after the election to remind people how much women have accomplished and overcome, even if we didn’t quite shatter that glass ceiling on November 8.
All decks feature exceptional women your kids may not know about — yet — like: Hypatia, a kick-ass mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (NBD); labor organizer and activist Lucy Parsons; and Wang Zhenyi, a scientist and astronomer who slayed 18th century China with her explanations of celestial phenomena.
Related: 11 inspiring children’s and YA books about historic women for our girls and boys.
Related: Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: The best bedtime book you’ll ever read.
I love that each card not only features biographical information but also noteworthy contributions and famous words of wisdom, all in a short, easily consumed blurbs that are perfect for keeping kids’ attention. As in, you could totally swap out their bedtime story for a few of these cards.
While you can purchase these decks as a complete collection (like, 19th century reformers), if your child has a specific interest right now, you can just purchase individual cards too and create your own collection of, say, badass female mathematicians. (Psst…they’ll be coming out with a women in STEM deck soon, whoo!)
It would be so cool if these trading cards became the new craze. I get chills thinking about my kids getting as excited over Italian Renaissance painter Sofonisba Anguissola as they do Mega Charizard X. If we keep persisting, it could happen.
You can find these awesome trading cards at Persisted Sisters. A portion of the profits from each deck of cards sold will be donated to support women’s causes around the world.
Special Offer for Cool Mom Picks readers: Get free shipping on orders of $20 and more with promo code COOLMOMS. This offer expires May 10.
