encouraging girls to be MIGHTY MAKERS with k’nex

Spend just a few minutes around an elementary school these days and you’ll quickly hear someone reference STEM. No, they aren’t giving a science lesson on flowers. They are referring to an educational curriculum that focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

There is a lot of research out there about why the focus on these four disciplines are so important to the education of our children, but today I’m going to share with you a bit about how a company we’ve loved for years is taking the STEM concepts and really encourage young girls to grab ahold of them.

K’NEX, a long-time favorite when it comes to building toys, released their newest product line earlier this summer called Mighty Makers.

The purpose behind the Mighty Makers is simple :: encourage young girls to explore the world of engineering. Estimates show that by 2018 1.2 milling jobs in science, technology, engineering and math will go unfilled in the US and yet the vast number of women aren’t pursuing careers in STEM. K’NEX took notice. And Mighty Makers was born.

Mighty Makers building sets, actually designed by women, encourage young girls to use their imaginations as they build these fun and colorful structures. And, to help bring these sets to life, each Mighty Makers set comes with a character, instructions for different builds, and a Mighty Makers Card that challenges the builder to explore additional concepts based on that sets’ theme.

For example, Ava loves Aviation, whether it’s flying a kite or building her very own flying machine! In the “Up, Up, and Away™ Building Set”, budding engineers use the different parts and pieces to help create three different aviation themed builds. The set also includes accessories to help the builds come to life and an Ava figure to help pilot the flying machines!

Targeted towards girls ages 7 and up, I LOVE how Mighty Makers has developed a new way to help encourage my girls to build and create. They have even figured out ways to combine Mighty Makers sets to create their very own creations and worlds!

Currently Mighty Makers has six different sets available at Toys R Us. In addition to Up, Up, and Away™, Mighty Makers offers  Going Green™ with a focus on botany in Zoe’s greenhouse garden; Deep Sea Dive™ which focuses on oceanography; Fun On The Ferris Wheel™ that explores mechanical engineering with Emily; discover architecture with Brianna and Sophia in the amazing Home Designer™ Building Set; and really put your design skills to the test with the Inventor’s Clubhouse™ Building Set that offers 10 different mechanical engineering themed builds and inventions! The Inventor’s Clubhouse™ Building Set even comes with a battery operated motor to bring those creations to life!

Again, as a mom of two young girls, I LOVE that Mighty Makers encourages girls to build and create and design. But more than that, I love that the Mighty Makers sets doesn’t just stop with one set creation. They encourage the girls to build more and explore.

We think these will be hot this holiday season and can’t wait to see what additional sets K’NEX creates in their Mighty Maker line! To find out more about the Mighty Makers line and each building set, visit K’NEX.com.

Tell us…What makes your daughter a MIGHTY MAKER!