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 July 2021 Girls Can! Crate!
Everything was shipped in a bright red box with the Girls Can! Crate logo on top.
A peek inside!
July’s featured “fearless woman” was Balqees Bani Hani — a young woman from Jordan who opened her own mechanic shop, despite it being a male-dominated business. 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 help children learn how to smash stereotypes and become knowledgeable about cars just like Balqees.
Activity Book
A 20-page, full color activity book included the story of Balqees Bani Hani and how her determination to learn about cars led to opening her own garage and helping other women get fair treatment in the male-dominated industry. It also included puzzles, games, experiments, and more. All of the activity instructions were printed in the booklet as well.
Challenge #1: Build a Car
The first activity had us building a car to explore acceleration, friction, and motion. Materials included die-cut car parts, car stickers, and permanent markers.
The first step was to color the two car stickers using the provided markers.
Each of the girls colored their own sticker/”side”.
Next, we needed to start building the frame of the car.
We followed the instructions in the booklet and pushed the pieces together at the points indicated.
The “motor”/pulley was slid into one of the wooden pieces and secured in place with the other half of the car body.
We then placed the stickers on each side of the car and finished up by pressing each of the 4 wheels onto the metal rods.
The completed car!
Challenge #2: Engineer a Track and Experiment with Acceleration, Friction, and Motion
The second activity had us building a racing ramp for our car and experimenting with acceleration, friction, and motion. Materials included 1 cardboard track, 2 half-circle “legs”, 1 track stand, 1 roll of felt, 1 roll of ridged paper, and 2 brads.
We began by inserting the two half-circle “legs” onto the track stand to make it stand on its own.
We then folded the track and secured the tabs where indicated in the instruction booklet.
Next, we simply inserted the back of the track into the slot in the stand to complete it.
Now it was time to try it out with our car!
First we raced it on the “empty” track, changing the height to see how fast it accelerated at each level.
Next, we attached the ridged paper to the track using the included brads.
Again, we send the car down and observed how fast it went over the ridged paper. (The increased friction from the ridges slowed it down a bit.)
The last track experiment involved laying the roll of red felt onto it using the brads once again. First, we tried it with the felt laying flat (without the second brad in place at the bottom), then again with a “speed bump” added.
We were also supposed to experiment by placing a penny on the car, but I only now noticed that step and realized we skipped it. 😉 Oops!
Challenge #3: Do a Car Check / Bonus Activity: Decorate Bumper Stickers
The final activity was to do a car check and decorate bumper stickers. Materials included a My Mechanic Checklist, My Car Care Checklist, a sheet of bumper stickers, and markers.
We decided to hold off on the car check at the time and instead focused on decorating our bumper stickers…
I cut the sticker sheet in half so each of the girls could decorate their own sticker.
All done!
With (almost) all of the activities complete, we had officially earned our Balqees Bani Hani collectible button. 
The July 2021 Girls Can! Crate box was a nice introduction to Balqees Bani Hani and her mission to normalize female mechanics in her native country (and hopefully throughout the world). The girls enjoyed building their little car and experimenting with the racing track. The bumper stickers were a fun bonus too! 🙂 — Remember for a limited time, you can save 20% on your first month with coupon code “WELCOME20“!
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