Resolutions for 2019
Five Ideas to Inspire Every Girl in STEM
This year let’s make a resolution to support girls’ creativity, confidence, and connection. Girls have the potential for greatness as inventors and creative forces in their community. They just need the opportunity to discover their inner engineer, math mindset, or passion for coding. Here’s a list of ideas to bring joy and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to girls.
1. Get hands-on with STEM
New Year’s resolutions don’t need to be about making sacrifices. Why not learn a new skill, make time for a favorite hobby, and support a girl as your resolution this year? Here are STEM projects you can do with your daughter, niece, neighbor, or girl in your community who is looking for a mentor.
Yellow Scope was created by scientists and moms who turned their passion for science, girls, and education into a company that aims to close the gender gap in science. Yellow Scope kits invite budding scientists to design experiments, brainstorm ideas, and draw their observations.
Squishy Circuits inspire creativity and promote problem-solving. Created at the Playful Learning Lab at the University of St. Thomas, Squishy Circuits use conductive and insulating play dough to teach the basics of electrical circuits. You can make your own or buy pre-made dough kits.
Elenco Snap Circuits offer a range of building experiences. With snap wires, slide switches, motors, and other parts, budding engineers create working circuit boards like the ones found inside televisions, radios, and other electronic devices.
Sew Electric brings together crafts, electronics, and programming. Projects include interactive toys, glow-in-the-dark bookmarks, light-up fashions, and customizable projects including a sparkling bracelet.
2. Inspire with books
Books can introduce role models who share a love for science, inspire a new interest, or show the value of perseverance. We encourage you to connect with a girl through some of our favorite reads. These include Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist by Sylvia Acevedo, Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History by Chelsea Clinton, Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines by Jeanne Walker Harvey, The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath by Julia Finley Mosca, Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World by Reshma Saujani, and Calling All Minds: How to Think and Create Like an Inventor by Temple Grandin. Check out A Mighty Girl’s list for more ideas. Reading aloud offers benefits for the entire family and doesn’t have to stop as kids get older. Check out The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie for book lists and inspiration.
3. Unleash talent with tools
Girls do like to make things and work with their hands when given the chance. Give a girl a set of tools so that she’s equipped to work on her bike, build a bookcase to hold her rock collection, or help with the next household repair project. Got a broken appliance like a toaster or hairdryer? Bring out the tools, take it apart, and see how it works. We hear from some engineers that their budding interest in engineering started with a take-apart project.
4. Disconnect from technology and connect with games
Puzzles, games, and blocks help build spatial skills and provide hours of fun. Classics like tangrams, origami, and building blocks are fun to play together and open the door to creativity. When you turn off the tech devices, interruptions and distractions are replaced with conversation and concentration.
5. Give the gift of your time and learn together
Create a coupon book that can be used for a STEM experience to do at home or in the community. Plan a trip to your local science museum or technology center. Look for an exhibit or program that builds on the interest of your girl. Check out parks and recreation programs for ideas to connect with nature and explore the outdoors. Hiking, bird watching, working on a citizen science project, or planting a garden can bring you together and introduce the wonders of STEM.
Sign up for a parent-daughter workshop with Black Girls Code or mother-daughter program like Make-HER at your public library. If you are more the self-taught type, get a book or find a Do-it-Yourself video online to learn a new hobby or try a new recipe.
We encourage you to open your heart and support girls in your community and around the world in STEM. There are many outstanding organizations that champion the rights of every girl to learn to code, master the engineering design process, and explore her future in STEM. Some of our favorites include Techbridge Girls, Iridescent, Black Girls Code, Girlstart, Girls Inc., National Girls Collaborative Project, Scientific Adventures for Girls, Girl Scouts and Girls Who Code. Your support can help these organizations host even more programs for girls in 2019.
Linda Kekelis, Ph.D., is an advisor for STEM Next Opportunity Fund. She was the Founder and former CEO of Techbridge Girls and has devoted her lifetime to supporting families and educators in encouraging girls in STEM.
Follow Linda Kekelis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaKekelis
