The Bunk Room_Issue 36

She’s More
Than a
Princess
By Annika Slaby 13, Mount Dora, FL
Bunk Roomie A-Team / Homeschooled
Barbies, Polley Pockets and Littlest Pet Shop.
There are so many toys for girls but none that
inspire science! There are pink Legos and Lincoln
Logs but Debbie Sterling didn’t think that was
doing the trick. That’s why
she invented Goldie Blox. Annika & Gracie
Goldie Blox is an
engineering toy for little girls.
The mechanical toy is
connected to a story,
something that Sterling said
separates the girls from the
boys when trying to inspire.
The storybook that goes
with the toy is about an
engineer named Goldie and
her animal friends.
Sterling was inspired by her friend’s
daughter. She was watching her play with Legos
and could see that she was getting bored.
“I asked her what was her favorite toy and
she showed me a book. I remember at that
moment thinking that girls like reading more than
building. Maybe I could combine them together!”
Along the way Sterling has had worries.
“You want to try to do everything, you want to
appeal to the girls....but not be too girly.”
But doing something you love overpowers
these challenges. “I think that the most fun part of
my job is brainstorming, finding ideas and
passing the toys out to the kids. I’m always very
surprised at what kids say and do. They are very
creative.”
In only a year, Sterling pre-sold 20,000
orders of Goldie Blox. In the future she sees
Goldie with her own television show and a
clothing line for girls that includes a tool belt.
According to Sterling, the world needs more
women engineers and she’s doing everything she
can to make that happen!
Gracie Says . . .
Pink ribbons and animals help little
girls like six year old Grace
Desmarias of Mount Dora, FL learn
the meaning of engineering.
Gracie is one of the thousands
of girls who now own the
revolutionary new toy called Goldie
Blox. Gracie loves Goldie Blox. “I
just love how the ribbon spins and
spins.”
She loves how not only the toy
makes the shape of a star but that it
can make the letters D,E,O and I. It
also makes mushrooms and smiley
faces.
Gracie now knows what a
washer and an axle are because of
the toy. She said she would like to
have more toys by Goldie Blox and
a cool Goldie outfit.
18 | TheBunkRoom.com | July / August 2013 | Be published! See page 5.