Girls Can! Crate is a monthly subscription box that inspires girls ages 5-10 to believe they can be and do anything by introducing them to fearless women who made the world better.
Each box will include a 20-page activity book telling the featured woman’s unique story (as well as games, experiments, & more), 2-3 hands-on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activities related to her field, a creative play prop, a featured character trait that helped her succeed and 2-3 practical tips for parents to easily foster that trait, and more. The boxes are designed to encourage a love for STEAM, to foster creativity, curiosity, and support literacy development. With every box purchased, Girls Can! Crate donates 10% of the proceeds to nonprofit organizations working to empower women and girls.
Disclosure: I received this box for review purposes. I was not compensated in any way. All opinions are my own. Post may contain affiliate and/or referral links.
Subscriptions are $29.95/month or less with multi-month commitments. Shipping is free within the US. — For a limited time, you can save 20% on your first month with coupon code “WELCOME20“!
Let’s see what’s in our April 2021 Girls Can! Crate!
Everything was shipped in a bright red box with the Girls Can! Crate logo on top.
A peek inside!
April’s featured “fearless woman” was Julia Child — the famous American chef and one of the first women to host her own cooking show on television. An information card listed all of the activities in the crate and the order in which they should be completed. The reverse side included tips for parents to encourage girls to be creative just like Julia.
Activity Book
A 20-page, full color activity book included the story of Julia Child and how her curiosity, passion, and creativity led her to become one of the most recognized chefs in the world. It also included puzzles, games, experiments, and more. All of the activity instructions were printed in the booklet as well.
Challenge #1: Kitchen Chemistry
The first activity had us exploring how various common kitchen ingredients can combine to produce interesting reactions. Materials included packets of psyllium husk powder, lemonade, baking soda, food grade citric acid, and a butterfly pea flower tea bag.
Part 1 – Explore Acids and Bases with Fizzing Foam
The first experiment had us exploring what happens when you mix acids and bases. — The first step was to pour 1/4 tsp baking soda into a bowl.
We also added 1/4 teaspoon of both citric acid and lemonade.
The final ingredient was 1 tbsp of the sweetener of our choice (we used regular white sugar).
After mixing, the booklet instructed you to sprinkle a small amount onto your tongue to see what would happened. It’s a bit hard to tell from the photo, but the powder started to foam up due to the combination of baking soda (a base) and citric acid (an acid). Cool!
Part 2 – Explore Acids and Bases with Color-Changing Drinks
The next set of experiments involved making color-changing drinks using the ingredients provided. First, we needed to microwave 1 cup of water for 90 seconds and drop in the butterfly pea flower tea bag. The tea then needed to steep for about an hour…
…Here’s the steeped tea about 30 minutes later (we didn’t want to wait a full hour 😉 ). Such a pretty blue color!
When the tea was ready, we needed to pour 1/4 cup into a clear class.
We then added 1/4 tsp of citric acid, which quickly turned the color to purple!
Next, we stirred in 1/4 tsp of baking soda and watched as it bubbled up.
As the bubbles dissipated, the liquid turned into a darker blue/purple color.
Next, we filled another new glass with 3/4 cup water.
To the water, we added 1 1/2 tsp lemonade, 1 tsp sweetener, and 1/4 tsp citric acid. We mixed well until all of the powders were completely dissolved.
Once dissolved, we filled the cup with ice.
We then slowly poured 3 tbsp of blue tea to the mixture and watched as it turned the liquid a pretty pinkish purple.
The final step was to add 1/4 tsp of baking soda, which caused it to slowly bubble and turn a darker purple.
It’s hard to tell from the photo above, but it was definitely bubbly. 😉
Part 3 – Explore More Kitchen Chemistry with Slime
The final experiment involved making psyllium “slime” using a packet of psyllium husk and water.
We first poured 1 tbsp of psyllium into a microwave-safe bowl.
We then added 1 cup of water and mixed well.
While mixing, we also added a couple drops of purple food dye. Once fully mixed, the booklet said to microwave for 2 1/2 minutes…
…which resulted in quite a mess. 🙁 Thankfully, the mixture had already taken on its “slime” properties and was easily peeled off our silicone microwave mat and placed back into the bowl.
Slime!!
Despite the microwave mishap, it still provided plenty of messy fun.
Challenge #2: Food “Stamp” an Apron
The second activity was to decorate an apron using paints and various fruits & vegetables. Materials included an apron, three tubes of paint, and a paintbrush.
Although this activity suggested using various fruits and veggies, it was close to grocery day so the only thing practical food item we had on hand were potatoes.
The girls opted for a heart and a smiley face, which i helped carve into the potato halves.
To “stamp”, they simply brushed on their chosen color of paint and pushed the potato onto the apron.
The end results often ended up a bit blotchy, so the girls used the paints to fill them in to their liking.
Again, a bit blotchy but we made it work. 🙂
We also mixed paints to make new colors like purple and green.
So many colors!
All done. 🙂
Also included was a recipe for a rolled omelette — taken from Julia Child’s famous “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” cookbook.
Once all of the activities were complete, we had officially earned our Julia Child collectible button. 
Our April 2021 Girls Can! Crate was a fun introduction to Julia Child and the science involved in cooking. My girls enjoyed experimenting with acids & bases and were especially fond of the slime. Potato stamping was a fun experience too! 😀 — Remember for a limited time, you can save 20% on your first month with coupon code “WELCOME20“!
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