Fort Building For Developing Self-Esteem In Girls and Boosting STEM Skills
Posted April 12, 2016 by Fort Magic
Self-Esteem In Girls and Boosting STEM Skills!
Fort building is a fun activity that can lead to many afternoons of enjoyment. It is also a strong beginning STEM activity. It offers the skills of planning, critical thinking, problem-solving, engineering, cooperation, and communication. Each of these blend into the world of STEM – science technology, engineering, and mathematics. While children have a good time, their active play session is really building skills that will further their education.
Google commissioned a Gallup poll that found girls felt less confident when it came to learning computer science. Only six percent of female college students in their first year of school have plans to study engineering. Developing self-esteem in girls is essential, and fort building can help to get girls confident in any task they want to accomplish. It is one of the most enjoyable and solid self-esteem activities for girls.
One of the first ways that you can help the girls in your life build up their self-esteem is to let them build the fort in their own way and only lend a hand when they ask for help. This will allow them to start feeling more confident in the things that they are doing with the fort. Once it has been completed, and they can use something they made themselves, their confidence will get a big boost. This is an accomplishment they can look on with pride. Playing in the fort becomes tangible proof they were able to do it themselves.
To further your daughter’s engineering and critical thinking skills while building a fort, you can help her get past obstacles or issues that might develop during the build. Rather than stopping her from doing something wrong or fixing the issue yourself, ask her questions to see if she can figure out what needs to be done to fix the design that is being built. This guidance can be great in getting her back on track and will give her some practice in building STEM skills.
Once the fort is standing, remember to show your pride in her achievement. Children who are praised for being smart may worry about this failing them later. Praising the hard work the young women put into the project of building a fort will help keep that sense of pride in a job well done. This can be a great time to document the fort with a picture or two that can be looked back on fondly by you both. The image will remind your daughter that she can do it!
Sometimes the littlest actions, like building a fort, can help with building self-esteem in girls. This level of confidence can also help them overcome obstacles such as gender inequality and gender bias they may face in the future.
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Photo Credits:
The Artful Parent Blog: One of our absolute favorite creative blogs for children and families. The Artful Parent blog is filled with simple ideas to fill your family’s life with art and creativity. A must see blog for sure.
Uncommon Designs Blog: Uncommon Designs is a blog dedicated to creating a beautiful life. From special touches in your home to making handmade gifts, this fun blog shares projects and ideas that are both “on trend” and classic. If you enjoy creating, then Uncommon Designs is the perfect place for you.
TinkerLab Blog: One of our favorite engineering blogs for children is TinkerLab. Have you ever visited the site? If not, you’ll definitely want to browse sometime soon. You will find loads of fun and inventive ideas for encouraging all things hands-on and engineering for kids. TinkerLab has fantastic Tinker Lab YouTube videos too!
Fort Magic Customer Photos via Facebook: Visit our Fort Magic Facebook page to see our customer creativity shine with fun pics and videos of families enjoying their Fort Magic kit during playtime.
Fort Magic Customer Photos via Instagram: Visit our Fort Magic Instagram page to see our customer creativity shine with fun pics and videos of families enjoying their Fort Magic kit during playtime.
