Celebrate and Support Women's History Month: Activities, Female Empowerment Merchandise, Books and More!

March is Women’s History Month and I’m sharing my favourite ways to celebrate the accomplishments of influential women, learning activities, book recos, playlists, female empowerment merch and showing some love to women-owned businesses.

PUZZLES

Inspirational Women – 1000 Piece Round Puzzle: this was my first adult feminist puzzle. It features 54 inspirational women and it comes with a mini biography so you can learn about their achievements. We have the Inspirational Women – Playing Cards. Take it with you to go and while my boys and I are playing Go Fish, we can also feel inspired. They also have an Inspirational Women – Trivia Game. This will be next on my wish list to buy.

HOT TIP: have your kids read out loud the achievements of women as you’re playing.

playing goldfish and learning about Inspiring Women like Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Great playing card set! NOTE: the font is smallish so you’ll have to wear reading glasses or better yet, get your kids to read them to you

Nevertheless SHE Persisted – 1000 Piece Puzzle: I saw this puzzle and immediately loved it because it was light pink in colour and the illustrations were just gorgeous. But, what really caught my eye was seeing the first female president of the Philippines, Corazon Acquino included (representation matters!). Cory Aquino was named TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year in 1986. She was influential in rallying the people of the Philippines to a peaceful movement that eventually led her to presidency. I don’t remember why I held off on buying it, but I got it as a Christmas gift from my brother and sister-in-law and it was really meaningful.

I also did a bit of digging and the artwork is from She Paper, a company that creates thoughtful products for women, by women. Check them out!

Other puzzles recommended:

MudPuppy Little 500 Piece Family Puzzle , Feminists – the first puzzle I ever bought was this kids puzzle and I didn’t buy it for my boys. I bought it for me, and I guess deep down I’m a little feminist at heart. Also, this puzzle became a family activity. My boys at the time were three years old and they love organizing colours and piecing things together (thanks to LEGO) and to this day, when they’re in the mood, they join me.
Women March Round Puzzle 500 Pieces – eeBoo I have several of their puzzles which are top quality and they have a whole themed section on women. Check the link here.

books we received through the Little Feminist Book Club monthly membership

LITTLE FEMINIST BOOK CLUB – an all-female team curating the best diverse books globally, so that you can focus on raising brave AND kind humans.

Join the book club (Ages 0 – 9): you choose the length of your subscription. Your receive 1-2 books, an activity, family letter and a discussion card.
Little Feminist Monthly Membership: you receive top tools for raising little feminists, book club picks, printable activities and 15% off books and swag.
Gift shop: you can gift someone a subscription, buy books, badge stickers and merchandise.

NOTE: the links to the Little Feminist Book Club are not affiliate links, however I work in partnership with the team, and I love their mission for our future generation!

31 Days of Women’s History Coloring Printables for Kids – I came across this printable through @hereweread and it’s yet another way I can get the kids involved. While it’s meant to colour an influential women for everyday in March, it shouldn’t stop you from using it anytime of the year. This activity would be great to colour with Crayola – Colours of the World pencil crayons.

INSPIRING MUGS – sip sip hooray I say! I am a coffee enthusiast and snob and if I’m going to be drinking the good stuff, the mugs need to be inspiring. And if they’re going to inspire me, they’ll also inspire my boys. So, with several mugs on rotation, my boys and I can clink mugs and acknowledge women’s history month and International Women’s Day.

Feminist Mug – found the feminist in pink letters at Urban Outfitters. While it is out of stock and the lettering is in black, I kept the link in case Urban Outfitters restocks. Click here for something similar.
Humankind Mega Mug – found this mug randomly when I was shopping for Christmas decor at a fancy schmancy grocery store in Guelph. The brand is Danica Jubilee, and they carry bright and cheerful items for your home.
Female-Empowering Mug – Audrey Lee is an illustrator based out of LA. These were a limited edition and unfortunately, her mugs will not be reproduced.

Below are other mugs I found online, which of course is my way of saying, “add to cart”, but not just yet.

ARCHd – handmade home decor on wood and marble that empowers women and celebrates cities
MugginsNortheast – based in the UK, she also sells stickers, tote bags, pins, tees, cards etc with female empowerment and body positive slogans. I almost added to cart with the boob mug.

SUPPORT WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES – shop from them, write a review on their products and services, share their business through your socials and through word of mouth because it goes a long way. Some of my favs that I’ve worked with over the years.

Modern Rascals – founded by Toronto mom, Jana Reid. Modern Rascals is an online store that brings brands and products with bright colours, patterns and ethical and sustainable production. She carries brands that represent the people around us. From Pride socks to a diverse collection of books to sourcing toys that resemble people in all shapes, sizes and colours.

The Good Kiind – Courtney is the founder of stainless steel lunchbox kits. With a sleek design, kits are free of plastic and toxins and they are leakproof and durable. We use ours year round and it’s perfect not only for school lunches but playdates, road trips and picnics. And with every purchase, a portion of sales is donated to give children a chance to get an education, a healthy meal and develop the skills to one day leave their mark.

Listen B*tch Affirmations – a little tough love to get you back on your feet with their Affirmation products. They carry affirmation cards and a journal.

Recognized the cards and had to stop the car and take a pic! So random, but so good!

I always post these cards on Instagram and I get a lot of engagement. The cards definitely grab your attention!

Plumleaf Press – founder Maggie who has been in the publishing industry her entire career sold off Rubicon Publishing in 2022 and started Plumleaf Press as a passion project with her vision to publish books to linger over (fiction, poetry, cookbooks, picture books) for (mostly) women and children.

Love Powered Co – it is so much more than a company. It’s a MOVEMENT. The perfect card sets to inspire, motivate and remind ourselves of the POWERS we all have within us. My boys were part of their product launch a few years back and we love the mini decks. I also have the Femme set, which includes 29 POWERS to affirm the greatness within you!

ENAMEL PINS – I also collect pins and I buy them according to theme or season and not gonna lie, my female empowerment collection is pretty stacked!

BOOKS – I’m an all year round support your female authors book club kind of gal, so to break it down to who are my favs, I just can’t. But, I can share some gems with you when it comes to books.

The Art of Feminism – The book focuses on feminist images and art from 1857-2017. To be honest, It’s the cover of this book that grabbed my attention because it’s the Femme Fist designed by Deva Pardue officially titled For All Womankind. I have the enamel pin, the phone case and a framed poster displayed at work. Crazy enough, there are two photos of me somewhere on the internet holding the sign at the 2018 Women’s March in Toronto.

Good Guys – How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace – this book came to my attention a couple of times and was a recommended read through our Women’s Impact Network ERG. A practical read which steers you into advocating for women in the workplace and at home. After reading the book, I actually told my husband that he’s a “good guy”. Didn’t need the book to validate it, but had to let him know and also keeping in mind that I have little men who we’re raising to be allies.

A pricey book, but happened to find it gently used at a bookstore in Santa Monica!

Raising the next generation of Good Guys in the Workplace

JOIN and/or START A BOOK CLUB – focus on female authors .. and better yet make it female diverse authors. And when you start or join a book club, do your research and work hard at finding a book club with diverse members. I’m currently part of two book clubs. Also, your local library, a community so close to home, is a great way to join and discover diverse female authors.

Tanya Time Book Club – Tanya Sam is an RN to Tech Girl, Canadian born living in Atlanta who loves books, fashion, travelling, running, food and all things beautiful. I met her through my husband’s best friend’s wife way back and she started her book club at the start of the pandemic with the purpose of bringing readers together with books that uplift. There are two books to date that I absolutely love and even recommended them to a colleague who is heading up a book club at work. His Only Wife and Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows

Minda Harts Secure the Seat Monthly Book Club – Minda Harts is a 2020 Linkedin Top Voice For Equity In The Workplace, Best-selling Author of The Memo and Right Within, Workplace and Equity Consultant. I came across her book Right Within: How to Heal from Racial Trauma in the Workplace and it gave me the courage to finally hit the publish button on my blog post – MENTAL HEALTH- the Real Reason for my Leave of Absence Request. Her book club is focused on her favourite Leadership reads. I would also recommend checking out her books here.

HOT TIPS

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I love Indigo book store. Indigo pledged back in 2020 that their shelves would carry 15% of Books by BIPOC Authors by end of 2021. My boys were Indigo ambassadors and to be involved, represented and collaborating, it was such a meaningful partnership. I’ve included the link to their Diverse voices section.
Lit tle People, Big Dreams (Corazon Acquino) – I love this series of books because it shared the story of the first female President of the Philippines, Corazon Acquino. It’s hard to come across children’s books specific to an influential Filipina and I scooped this book up immediately.

WOMEN’s MUSIC PLAYLIST and WOMEN’s HISTORY MOVIE LIST

Create a Music Play List – I have a playlist of “Female Singers” that’s quite extensive. Feist (Inside and Out), Alicia Keys (A Woman’s Worth), TLC (Waterfalls), Fleetwood Mac (Dreams), Rihanna (Diamonds), Lauryn Hill (Doo Wop) and the list goes on. And it wasn’t hard to find you a Spotify and Apple playlist.

Netflix and Chill Kind of Month – or make it Disney+, CRAVE, Apple TV or Prime. Probably more out there, but click on those hyperlinks that I provided and get that bowl of popcorn and pour yourself a glass of somethin’ somethin’.

Happy Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day to all the Queens!

Shine Lily xo