Women have been at a disadvantage in societies around the world. Especially when it comes to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, protection from discrimination, violence, and so much more. Empowering young girls to reach their full potential and teaching young boys awareness of these issues is more important now than ever. We put together a quick (but mighty!) list of books and activities that can help start a conversation about gender equality with kids of all ages.
BOOKS
Amelia’s Road
Amelia Luisa Martinez hates roads. Los caminos, the roads, take her migrant worker family to fields where they labor all day, to schools where no one knows Amelia’s name, and to bleak cabins that are not home. The richly colored illustrations bring to life the landscape of California’s Central Valley farmland. Amelia’s Road is an inspirational tale about the importance of home. Ages 3-10
Ordinary People Change the World Books
Bestselling books series that helps kids build character, kindness, and compassion. One real hero at a time. Heros include, but not limited to: Amelia Earhart, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Gandhi, and more! Activity pages to go with! Ages 4-8
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909
When Clara Lemlich arrived in America, she couldn’t speak English. She didn’t know that young women had to go to work, that they traded an education for long hours of labor, that she was expected to grow up fast. So Clara fought back. Fed up with the mistreatment of her fellow laborers, Clara led the largest walkout of women workers in the country’s history. Ages 4-8
The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed A City Forever
Kate decided that San Diego needed trees more than anything else. So this trailblazing young woman singlehandedly started a massive movement that transformed the town into the green, garden-filled oasis it is today. Now, more than 100 years after Kate first arrived in San Diego, her gorgeous gardens and parks can be found all over the city. Ages 4-9
Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace
A picture book biography of scientist Wangari Maathai, the first African woman and first environmentalist to win a Nobel Peace Prize (in 2004), for her work planting trees in her native Kenya. Ages 5-9
Remember: The Journey to School Integration
Toni Morrison has collected a treasure chest of archival photographs that depict the historical events surrounding school desegregation. These unforgettable images serve as the inspiration for Ms. Morrison’s text — a fictional account of the dialogue and emotions of the children who lived during the era of “separate but equal” schooling. Remember is a unique pictorial and narrative journey that introduces children to a watershed period in American history and its relevance to us today. Ages 8+
Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists
A wonderful resource for young researchers and biographers, these stories can be a starting point for issues of gender, science, and the environment. Profiles the lives and influences of six female naturalists: Maria Sibylla Merian, Anna Botsford Comstock, Frances Hamerstrom, Rachel Carson, Miriam Rothschild, and Jane Goodall. Ages 10+
ACTIVITIES
Who’s She? Game
A wooden guessing game featuring strong, mighty women. It’s all about their adventures not their looks! Made to inspire. Made to last.
Friends and Neighbors: The Helping Game
This game helps develop empathy and compassion while kids have fun! The friends and neighbors in this game have a variety of problems, and to solve them, from a fear of the dark, to getting wet in the rain. Ages 3-5
GeoPuzzle World
From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, GeoPuzzle World brings the joy of learning about the world to kids’ fingertips. With 68 pieces shaped like individual countries and groups of countries, children learn the name and shape of each country, and they also learn its location on a map. Ages 4+
Magic Science for Wizards Only
This fun kit will teach you the science behind your favorite magic tricks, which budding magicians can apply to future stunts of their own design. Also included are an instruction booklet with 11 activities, lab equipment, and “mysterious wizard powders” — only you’ll know the secret of what they really are. Ages 6+
Physics Solar Workshop
By building five awesome models and conducting experiments with them, you will learn how solar cells transform light into electrical energy, and how motors and mechanical devices can optimize the work done by this energy. Ages 8+
