Pleasures of Providence living: getting 2 NPR stations

Among the pleasures of living in the Providence area: getting 2 NPR stations on your radio, each with a different schedule: WGBH 89.7 and WELH 88.1 FM.

Today (August 28, 2015) Morning Edition show host Steve Inskeep interviewed Kara Miller, who has her own show called Innovation Hub on Saturday mornings. *

Kara explained how Alice Brooks got started on the road to a degree in mechanical engineering at MIT. At age 8, all she wanted for Christmas was a Barbie doll. Instead her parents gave her a saw. And later more tools. So she took some wood, built a doll house, and made her own dolls. All that eventually led to MIT. Now she has a venture that makes toys to inspire young girls to love science, including tool kits, that have a variety of parts, motors, wheels, etc. **

What have little girls made? Sure, doll houses, but also rockets, and one little lady made a car wash that really works. So Steve Inskeep joked: has anyone yet made a toy car wash that also can wash Barbie dolls. ( :–)

More seriously, when we build play areas for children, let’s include toys that will inspire young girls to love science, like the kits that Alice Brooks and friends are making at roominatetoy.com.