LEGO Has Announced A Set Honoring Women of NASA—Here’s Why It’s Great For Girls AND Boys

Buying toys for kids can be frustrating enough as it is (think toys that break right away, toys that NEVER stop making noise and randomly go off at 3 a.m. and toys that require painstaking hours of assembly).

But the frustration only increases for parents who don’t want their children to be pigeonholed into particular gender roles by their toys. In my opinion, it’s ridiculous that toys need to be separated by gender at all.

Even when they are still toddlers, little boys end up feeling like they shouldn’t walk down the “girl” aisles, and similarly, girls feel like they can’t venture into the “boy” aisles either. Silly!

It’s especially infuriating when you consider the differences between girl and boy toys. Girls’ toys tend to be centered around cooking, beauty and dolls, while boys’ toys are more action- and science-oriented, with a focus on toys like cars, balls, science kits, LEGO and more.

Luckily, stores like Target are taking steps to eradicate gender-based toy aisles. That’s great news, as studies show that gendered toys are harmful to both boys and girls.

Still, we have a long way to go. I remember shopping at Toys “R” Us just a couple years ago and being irritated that the featured boys’ LEGO item was a space shuttle whereas the featured girls’ LEGO item was a pop star stage. Sigh.

But, luckily, LEGO is becoming more progressive in their offerings for girls. It was just announced that LEGO is going to release a Women of NASA LEGO set, including Margaret Hamilton, Katherine Johnson, Sally Ride, Nancy Grace Roman and Mae Jemison.

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Each of these five women led notable careers with NASA, and Johnson was featured in the top Hollywood movie “Hidden Figures.” She was an African-American physicist and mathematician who made contributions to the U.S. aeronautics and space program.

How cool is that? I love that LEGO is getting on board with offering more inspiring and gender-friendly toys to girls and boys who love their products. I just hope that it isn’t just girls who end up buying this LEGO set!

We should all celebrate the amazing contributions of women in the field of STEM and space, and we can do this by voting with our bank accounts and choosing to buy toys that are inclusive and celebrate diversity.

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Here’s hoping that parents buy this awesome kit for their daughters AND their sons.

https://twitter.com/SalernoScientif/status/836745764063887362

LEGO has not yet said when the new collection will be released, or how much it will cost, but hopefully we won’t have wait too long!