Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Inspiring the Next Generation of Female Innovation with Roominate {Review & Giveaway}

Roominate logo
A simple stroll through the toy section in any box store reveals the "girl aisle" that is pink, pretty and passive, while the "boy aisle" is blue, intelligent and action-packed. Why is that? Why are we not encouraging the next generation of girls with their development of spatial skills, hands-on problem solving skills, and confidence with technology as much as boys?

In the US, less than 15% of women enter college intending to major in a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) field, so it can be argued that all the years of hosting tea parties and playing with dolls might lead girls down a different future path?

Fortunately, companies are beginning to realize the importance of encouraging and inspiring the future of female innovators and engineers. Instead of simply sitting back and hoping that girls will decide to play with traditionally "boy" toys on their own, it's time to revolutionize the way that we motivate girls to look at the world with Roominate.

Roominate STEM toys

Created by two female friends who met in the master's engineering program at Stanford, Roominate is a stackable and customizable line of wired building systems that inspire open-ended and hands-on play. By using motor and light circuits, modular pieces and universal joints, Roominate manages to blend building, circuits, design, crafts, storytelling, and creativity to kids all while they play.

Young users end up building just about anything that their heart desires in their unique and original rooms, both big and small. Even better? Once the creating is done for the day, it can all be taken apart and remade into something completely new and different next time, essentially leading to endless creative possibilities!

As Roominate products are available now in a variety of sets and kits, I was looking forward to seeing what my own girls would think of these innovative new toys with the arrival of the Roominate Studio.

Roominate Studio toy

Including 70 pieces of all shapes, sizes and colors, the Roominate Studio allows girls (ages 6+) to completely design their own personalized studio... and then accessorize it exactly as they wish.

As soon as we started removing the pieces from the box, it was already easy to see how this one toy could help encourage my girls' STEM knowledge as they assembled, disassembled, built and rebuilt time and again.

Roominate toys

I have to admit, one look at the four wall/floor panels, the 16 connectors and the 24 furniture building pieces and I was itching to start building my own studio!

However, even as I held back, it was great to see my girls' creations come together little by little and just how much creativity and imagination went into their designs. Once they had learned about and gotten to know Alice and her puppy Harrie...

Roominate Alice

It was time to start building for them. The girls' rooms started out simple, as they realized how easy it was to pop together the panels and connectors...

Roominate room

...but then turned more elaborate as they began to stretch their minds to test the possibilities.

Roominate house

But the main structure of the studio itself is just the beginning, as the building pieces soon started to take shape into tables, chairs, desks, shelves, beds, dressers and much more.

It's great how Roominate gives all sorts of ideas for inspiration (with even more online) as well as a large group of paper accessories such as curtains, tools and books that can be cut out and included in the studio as well!

Roominate building toys

As an extremely fun and educational bonus, using the very simple motor, switch and battery pack (requires two AAA batteries, not included), kids are able to build and wire a working fan, washing machine, circular saw, carousel and more!

Roominate wiring

In the end, it has been eye-opening and amazing to see the various creations that my girls have made and I can see how Roominate really only needs the included building pieces and an imagination to provide entertainment and learning over and over again.

Roominate review

Although it can be argued that just about any toy has benefits and encourages kids to practice a variety of skills (e.g. small motor, creativity, reading, etc), there is a smaller number that truly manage to inspire... and Roominate is one of them!

You can find out much more about the full line of Roominate products by visiting RoominateToy.com and by connecting with them on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. The Roominate Studio retails for $29.99 and would easily be a unique, thought-provoking, fun toy for any young girl this holiday season and beyond!

And, thanks to the generosity of Roominate, one person will soon see just how much the girl(s) in their life enjoys building, creating and wiring as well, because...

One lucky person will win a Roominate Studio!

Roominate Studio


A big thank you to Roominate for providing a Roominate Studio for me to review as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.

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