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GoldieBlox Review

This is a partnered post with The Motherhood on behalf of its client. All opinions, photos, and experiences are mine alone. 

“Can’t never could cause can’t never tried.” Growing up I remember both my mom and grandma saying this too me whenever I got discouraged or doubtful about my capabilities.

Failure is a part of life, but not something that everyone knows how to manage. Even as adults we get frustrated or upset when we try and fail and sometimes give up entirely, never to try again.

Knowing that adults don’t do well with failure makes it even harder to teach children about it. But as parents, it’s our responsibility to teach our children about failure. The sooner, the better so we can help them vocalize and overcome their failures from early age when those failures aren’t quite as significant as when they’re older.

Cakes started kindergarten this year and it’s been a huge adjustment for us. She has an entirely new routine, new expectations, and new skills to master. One new aspect of her kindergarten life that encompasses all three of these areas is homework. It’s her teacher’s (and my) expectation that she’ll complete her homework and daily reading to demonstrate that she’s practicing and mastering the new skills she’s being taught each day.

It’s evident to me how intelligent she is, but when something doesn’t come easy to her or she has to try more than once she starts to shut down. She doesn’t want to even try because she doesn’t want to fail. As a mom, it’s hard to see her turn into such a ball of emotions over something I know she’s capable of not only doing but excelling at, if she only tried.

Bill of Materials for GoldieBlox Zipline

But after a long day of school, she just wants to take a break from the learning. I get this, but I also want to ensure that she’s making the most of each day and learning even when she doesn’t realize she is.

Cakes assembling GoldieBlox Zipline

Drawing, reading, doing puzzles, educational apps, jumping on the trampoline are all fun but sometimes a girl just wants to play with toys. Even then, ideally (but not always) I’d like for their to be an educational aspect to the toy. I recently heard about GoldieBlox and I have to say this is the perfect toy for Cakes.

Cakes with GoldieBlox on Zipline

At first I was a little skeptical about how well Goldie would be received because Cakes is so not a doll person, but when I read the box and presented Goldie as an action figure…she was all for it! Cakes has been playing with Goldie after school, taking her to bed, and even bringing her in the truck on the way to school in the morning. I haven’t seen her this interested in a toy in a long time.

GoldieBlox on Zipline

Goldie’s not just an action figure though, she’s an inventor! We received Goldie as part of the Zipline Kit and while she was frustrated assembling the zipline for Goldie at first, Cakes was able to overcome this and work through this. She was able to assemble the zipline all by herself thanks to a very detailed building plan and when it was time for Goldie to get moving on the zipline Cakes was able to move past the failed attempts and troubleshoot theories on why she wasn’t sailing across her bedroom as expected. As a mom, I love that Cakes is being exposed to engineering, math, and science concepts in a fun and creative way.

darby

Thursday 9th of April 2015

I was having a lot of trouble at work with a creepy boss, it took a while but I ended up on top!

christine j

Tuesday 7th of April 2015

i failed at a recent diet, but bounced back with a fun new exercise program

Heather Hollands

Saturday 4th of April 2015

I was giving a speech, and I totally froze and forgot what I was going to say. I took a pause and a deepb breath and finished it in a different way.

6 Truths About Failure to Teach Young Girls (The Motherhood)

Thursday 2nd of April 2015

[…] “Knowing that adults don’t do well with failure makes it even harder to teach children about it. But as parents, it’s our responsibility to teach our children about failure. The sooner, the better so we can help them vocalize and overcome their failures from early age when those failures aren’t quite as significant as when they’re older.” – Kelly, Texas Type A Mom […]

Kristen

Wednesday 1st of April 2015

I said "no" to a speaking engagement out of fear...but the next time I was asked I said YES...it was a large group...and afterwards I felt so empowered!