Girls Can! Crate is a monthly Subscription Box that inspires girls ages 5-10 to believe they can be and do anything by introducing them to fearless women who made the world better.
Each box will include a 20-page activity book telling the featured woman’s unique story (as well as games, experiments, & more), 2-3 hands-on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activities related to her field, a creative play prop, a featured character trait that helped her succeed and 2-3 practical tips for parents to easily foster that trait, and more. The boxes are designed to encourage a love for STEAM, to foster creativity, curiosity, and support literacy development. With every box purchased, Girls Can! Crate donates 10% of the proceeds to nonprofit organizations working to empower women and girls.
Disclosure: I received this box for review purposes. I was not compensated in any way. All opinions are my own. Post may contain affiliate and/or referral links.
Subscriptions are $29.95/month or less with multi-month commitments. Shipping is free within the US. — For a limited time, you can save 20% on your first month with coupon code “WELCOME20“!
Let’s see what’s in our August 2021 Girls Can! Crate!
Everything was shipped in a bright red box with the Girls Can! Crate logo on top.
A peek inside!
August’s featured “fearless woman” was Mary G. Ross — the first female Native American engineer. An information card listed all of the activities in the crate and the order in which they should be completed. The reverse side included tips for parents to help encourage their children to become more motivated in math and understand that making mistakes is okay and an important part of learning.
Activity Book
A 20-page, full color activity book included the story of Mary G. Ross and how her motivation to learn led her to become the first female Native American engineer and the first female engineer to be employed by Lockheed Martin. It also included puzzles, games, experiments, and more. All of the activity instructions were printed in the booklet as well.
Challenge #1: Zooming Balloon Rockets
The first activity had us building our own rockets to race across the room. Materials included 2 cardboard rockets, 2 balloons, 1 straw, string, 4 white hooks, clear stickers, and 2 sets of Velcro circles.
First, the girls colored both of the rockets using markers from home. (This was optional.)
Next, we cut one of the paper straws in half and slid it onto a 12-foot piece of string. We then tied two of the plastic hooks to each end.
I helped the girls move two chairs roughly 10 feet apart and wrapped the end of the string around each one, securing it with the plastic hooks.
Next, we placed a velcro circle onto the back of one of the rockets.
We then used a clear sticker to attach the rocket to the paper straw (already positioned on the string).
The other “side” of the velcro circle was then adhered to a balloon which was blown up, but not tied.
Finally, we placed the rocket onto the balloon using the velcro and quickly let the end of the balloon go.
The rapidly escaping air from the balloon caused the rocket to fly down the string!
We did this a few times, but it never quite made it to the other chair. I probably should have put more air in the balloon to give it more “power”, but blowing it up was starting to make me a little lightheaded. 😉
Challenge #2: Engineer a Re-entry Pod
The second activity had us engineering a re-entry pod. Materials included 1 cardboard entry pod, string, a parachute, straws, a plastic egg, and a small plastic bag.
The first step in building our re-entry pod was to fold the pod into a pyramid shape.
Next, we measured four 15-inch pieces of string and used each one to tie the corners of the pod together.
Once fully secured with string, we cut a straw in half and slid both pieces through the holes at the top of the pod.
Two full-sized straws were then inserted into the bottom holes as shown above.
Next, we attached the parachute by tying the ends of the strings to the corresponding holes on the chute.
Then it was time to add some salt (or sugar) to the little plastic baggie to mimic the weight of a real egg.
The baggie was then placed inside of the egg which was snapped shut to secure it.
The weighted egg was then placed inside the pod between the sets of straws.
It was a little tough to get in there, but it resulted in a very secured egg.
The girls then took turns standing on a chair and dropping the pod to the floor.
The egg remained in tact every single time. — Even when I dropped it myself from higher up. Either our egg had a very tight seal or we made an incredibly supportive re-entry pod. 😉
Challenge #3: Explore Math with a Geoboard
The final activity was to explore math and different shapes using a geoboard. Materials included a wooden geoboard, a set of shape cards, and rubber bands in various sizes.
Exploring geometry with the geoboard was a big hit with my kiddos. They loved using the differently sized/colored rubber bands to recreate the images on the shape cards provided.
It took a few minutes for them to get the hang of it, but once they figured out how to count the pegs to find the right positions they quickly moved though all of shape cards and started creating their own.
So fun!
With all of the activities complete, we had officially earned our Mary G. Ross collectible button.
The August 2021 Girls Can! Crate box was particularly helpful for my girls as they tend to struggle a bit with math. It was nice for them to see how it doesn’t have to be a chore and can be used for fun things too. Heck, even I enjoyed taking a turn with the geoboard! 😉 — Remember for a limited time, you can save 20% on your first month with coupon code “WELCOME20“!
