Gendered Packaging of a STEM Toy Influences Children's Play, Mechanical Learning, and Mothers’ Play Guidance

Emily F. Coyle; Lynn S. Liben

doi:10.1111/cdev.13139

Gendered Packaging of a STEM Toy Influences Children's Play, Mechanical Learning, and Mothers’ Play Guidance

Emily F. Coyle, Lynn S. Liben

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

To study effects of the gender-packaging of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) toys, mother–child dyads (31 daughters; 30 sons; M = 5.2 years) were randomly assigned to play with a mechanical toy packaged for girls (GoldieBlox) or boys (BobbyBlox). When familiarizing themselves with the toy to prepare for play, mothers given BobbyBlox built more with toy pieces than did mothers given GoldieBlox. During dyadic play, mothers with sons built more; mothers with daughters read the toy's narrative instructions more. Children's independent play likewise varied with game packaging. Girls learned the mechanical belt-drive principle better from playing with BobbyBlox; boys learned the principle better from playing with GoldieBlox. Implications for gender-schema theories, STEM interventions, and toy marketing are discussed.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	43-62
Number of pages	20
Journal	Child development
Volume	91
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13139
State	Published - Jan 1 2020

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
Education
Developmental and Educational Psychology

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10.1111/cdev.13139

Cite this

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title = "Gendered Packaging of a STEM Toy Influences Children's Play, Mechanical Learning, and Mothers{\textquoteright} Play Guidance",

abstract = "To study effects of the gender-packaging of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) toys, mother–child dyads (31 daughters; 30 sons; M = 5.2 years) were randomly assigned to play with a mechanical toy packaged for girls (GoldieBlox) or boys (BobbyBlox). When familiarizing themselves with the toy to prepare for play, mothers given BobbyBlox built more with toy pieces than did mothers given GoldieBlox. During dyadic play, mothers with sons built more; mothers with daughters read the toy's narrative instructions more. Children's independent play likewise varied with game packaging. Girls learned the mechanical belt-drive principle better from playing with BobbyBlox; boys learned the principle better from playing with GoldieBlox. Implications for gender-schema theories, STEM interventions, and toy marketing are discussed.",

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Gendered Packaging of a STEM Toy Influences Children's Play, Mechanical Learning, and Mothers’ Play Guidance

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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