About the Curriculum

Originally piloted in classrooms in the El Segundo Unified School District in 2019, the Barbie Dream Gap Project Curriculum demonstrated promising results, including:

  • expanding kids’ interest in more careers
  • increasing all girls’ beliefs that anyone could be a good leader
  • inspiring more 2nd grade girls to identify females as “really, really smart” and to say YES to the question, “Do you think you can be anything?”

The curriculum has since been optimized for online learning with a parent or guardian’s guidance at home; leveraging the latest research in developmental psychology and aligned to state standards in social and emotional learning (SEL). The six-lesson interactive experience is instructed by CSS Senior Fellow Dr. Laurel Felt, the original learning designer of the Barbie Dream Gap Project Curriculum and a scholar of children's media, play, and learning.

Join us as we continue to inspire the next generation through this unique learning experience.

How to Get Started

Tech Set Up

Provide a digital device (computer recommended; tablet or mobile phone work, too). Make sure your child knows how to click on your device (e.g., push the mouse's button, tap the trackpad, tap the screen, etc). Each lesson also contains fun, engaging videos. For optimal experience, please ensure the audio is on. (Headphones recommended)

Review Materials

Each lesson comes with a short, customized downloadable workbook. The workbook includes a kid-friendly activity sheet and parent/caregiver resources unique to each lesson – available in English and Spanish!* Activity sheets are not required to complete the lessons, but are encouraged to keep kids engaged! (Pro Tip: If printer access is limited, a blank piece of paper or a digital sketching tool works too!) *English and Spanish only available for parent/caregiver materials

Additional Tips

During the interactive lessons, when members of Community Club ask “Faraway Friend” to share, they are speaking to your child. Encourage your child to answer the question out loud! Use the conversation starters in the workbooks to extend and enrich your child’s learning after each lesson is complete!

Tech Set Up

Provide a digital device (computer recommended; tablet or mobile phone work, too). Make sure your child knows how to click on your device (e.g., push the mouse's button, tap the trackpad, tap the screen, etc). Each lesson also contains fun, engaging videos. For optimal experience, please ensure the audio is on. (Headphones recommended)

Review Materials

Each lesson comes with a short, customized downloadable workbook. The workbook includes a kid-friendly activity sheet and parent/caregiver resources unique to each lesson – available in English and Spanish!* Activity sheets are not required to complete the lessons, but are encouraged to keep kids engaged! (Pro Tip: If printer access is limited, a blank piece of paper or a digital sketching tool works too!) *English and Spanish only available for parent/caregiver materials

Additional Tips

During the interactive lessons, when members of Community Club ask “Faraway Friend” to share, they are speaking to your child. Encourage your child to answer the question out loud! Use the conversation starters in the workbooks to extend and enrich your child’s learning after each lesson is complete!

The Interactive Lessons

View Lessons

About the Dream Gap Project

Research shows that starting at age five, many girls begin to develop self-limiting beliefs and think they're not as smart and capable as boys. They stop believing their gender can be anything. This issue is called the Dream Gap, and to help close it, Barbie launched the Dream Gap Project in 2018 - an ongoing global initiative that gives girls the resources and support they need to continue believing in themselves.

Learn More