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Legos for Girls
March 26, 2015
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.
-Confucius

"Boys as well as girls should be able to play with the same Legos®," claims Lego®.  However, The Optimist (Winter 2015) reported that most Lego® characters are still men, and when Lego® shows a profession, it's most often with a male figure.  Women, on the other hand, are represented by princesses and mermaids.

A Dutch scientist, Ellen Kooijman, decided to do something about this.  "I missed the female Lego® figures at work.  It would make the Lego® community much more diverse," she contended.  Kooijman responded to a call to design your own Lego® figures and submitted a paleontologist, an astronomer, and a chemist.  Her figures were so popular that Lego® decided to make this set a reality.  Coming to a store near you this summer.

Kooijman was satisfied with how Lego® executed her designs, but did have one criticism:  "I highly discourage wearing makeup in the laboratory.  It can contaminate the materials you work with."





Loose Parts

Loose parts are natural or synthetic, found, bought, or upcycled materials — acorns, hardware, stones, aluminum foil, fabric scraps, for example — that children can move, manipulate, control, and change within their play.  Loose parts are alluring and beautiful.  They capture children's curiosity, give free reign to their imagination, and encourage creativity.

With more than 550 color photographs of many kinds of loose parts in real early childhood settings, classroom stories, and a dynamic overview, this book provides inspiration and information about the ways loose parts support open-ended learning, enhance play, and empower children.  With loose parts, the possibilities are endless.

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Comments (2)

Displaying All 2 Comments
geeta bhatt · March 26, 2015
the grand child care center
chicago, IL, United States


Wow! Very encouraging news!!
Once in a while we have some young girls asking sometimes this kind of question..in our daycare. Over last 25 years there were 5 girls with the attitude that they were not happy playing with those stereotypes figures.. I m so glad and happy to hear the news..

ME Martel · March 26, 2015
Southwest Harbor, Maine, United States


I cringed when I saw the title of this article. When my now 30 daughter was little she was TOTALLY offended when Lego company came out with pastel "girls'" sets. She had decided she wasn't a "girly-girl" around 2nd grade. Her choice of Lego sets ~ Pirates. I love that they are going to make more female characters/ My daughter used to just swap the heads to whatever body she wanted!



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