Tag: education

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Kids/Babies Robots/Drones

Behind its cute smile, the Plobot teaches tykes to program

The idea of teaching young children about the nuances of programming logic is quickly becoming more commonly accepted. Doing so benefits all types of skills, from visualization to problem solving, and help children confront the challenges of a rapidly developing world.

The Plobot is another in a long line of completely physical programming toys created to help children explore the world of progamming world in a very tactile way. Created by NYU robotics professor Rudi Cossovich and ex-Google engineer Sean Purser-Haskell, does away with syntax and computer screens while still educating children about algorithms, loops, conditionals, and more. Command cards are core to the Plobot experience, with each representing a block of code. Kids can tap or swipe them on Plobot’s head to string them together and create a program the robot follows, with the play card serving as an execute function.

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Connected Objects Kids/Babies Toys

Wordee uses light to help budding wordsmiths master lingo

Technology has never been more prevalent than it is now, especially for the children who, at younger and younger ages, are exposed to more and more of it. But instead of subscribing to the idea that technology ultimately harms childhood development, Tokyo-based JellyWare Inc. wants to embrace it instead with Wordee.

Wordee is an educationally-minded robot that, put simply, draws with light. This unique hook is made possible through Wordee’s use of LEDs that blink in certain patterns that are absorbed by a phosphorescent sheet. This allows the device to “print” out words and phrases that persist for a few seconds before fading away.

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Connected Objects Kids/Babies

Miraffe connected playmate puts a digital portal in the hands of kids

For little ones, the world is full of mystery, prompting their torrent of questions from the moment they can start forming them. For parents, this is a wonderful moment. Knowing that they’re responsible for educating their children is a huge responsibility made easier with the internet. For the most part, it’s better if a child discovers everything on their own. The Miraffe is a clever compromise between the two.

Since a child can’t just log on to Google or Wikipedia and seek out the information they need, the Miraffe acts as an intermediary. It can recognize objects in the world and give children information on it along with simply being a toy with which to entertain with. It’s essentially a Wi-Fi enabled, 4″ HD screen with a quad-core 1.3GHz processors, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and a 5 MP camera.

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Kids/Babies Maker/Development Robots/Drones

Codeybot drives a programmable wedge right into your adoring heart

The past ten years or so have seen a huge push towards STEM subjects in the United States to shore up the youth for a future society dominated by computer programming and robotics. But no matter how important the programming skills are, children w care about the future implications of learning them unless it’s fun to learn first.

Enter the Codeybot, another crowdfunded little robot designed to engage children in the fundamentals of coding from the creators of the Makeblock. What’s immediately noticeable is how its LED panel and extremely appealing, wedge-shaped single-wheel design serve to grasp the usually fleeting attention spans of children. To maintain it, children program Codeybot with an iPad app using the mBlocky language. (Sorry Android users.)

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Music Tablet Accessories

The One is for the two hands playing an iPad-enabled piano

The history of interfaces and gadgets aimed at helping people learn to play piano stretches back at least 25 years to the release of The Miracle piano that worked with the original Nintendo Entertainment System.

Carrying on The Miracle’s tradition of educational digital pianos with names that include an article, The ONE digital keyboards can connect directly to an iPad or Android tablet. The pianos feature light-up keys that have been popular on low-end learning pianos for years. However, when paired with a tablet, apps — such as the one the company is creating — can do a more engaging job of teaching piano.. The ONE has been sold in other countries for some time so the campaign really marks more of its entrance into North America than a whole new concept.

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Maker/Development

Eedu educational kit lets you roll your own drone

The military, commercial, and extreme sport applications of drone technology have dominated news headlines and drone feature sets for the past few years. As such, this versatile technology’s reputation has been reduced to either a war machine or a camera with wings.

Skyworks Aerial Systems gives people a chance to explore all sorts of drone possibilities with its Eedu drone assembly kit. Contained inside the Eedu kit are all the tools and parts necessary to put it together, so new users can assemble and start programming quickly while more intrepid users can opt to install their own hardware. While the drone is compatible with a wide array of open source hardware, it isn’t necessary to use them. The company’s Intel Edison-powered LUCI drone controller has all the hardware and sensors to act as its brains and still be open to expansion for more varied use.

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Kids/Babies Maker/Development Toys

MakerBloks snaps a fun STEM introduction together for kids

In the United States, introducing STEM topics to kids has faced many challenges in part because the way its done isn’t engaging enough. No one ever said these topics have to be boring, though.

MakerBloks answers the call with electronic components wrapped in bright, colorful casing that easily snap together to make electronic circuits. With the help of a companion tablet app featuring teaching aids and games, children can create a variety of projects like keyboards, burglar alarms, and memory games. Real electronic symbols are used on each block to familiarize children early on so that electronic schematics won’t prove to be a challenge later on. A full kit of 36 MakerBloks and an iPad stand goes for $159, with a ship date slated for November 2015. The campaign is hoping to raise $20,652 by June 16th, 2015.

MakerBloks’ presentation and connection with gaming combine offline and online worlds in a meaningful way, no doubt drawing kids in and keeping them hooked while facilitating a great learning experience at the same time. Keen-eyed readers will see some similarities between MakerBloks and littleBits, another block-based electronics system that is a great step up for the children who master sets like MakerBloks and are seeking more challenging interactions.

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Toys

GeoBunnies cuddle with kids, teach them math at the same time

Math is important for little kids to learn, but not always the most interesting topic. Kids need to be engaged in sneaky ways in order for them to learn important facts.

GeoBunnies makes it fun for children to learn some important math basics. These plush toys are made from velboa fabric and look like bunny rabbits, but come in three different shapes. There’s a pink hexagon, a blue pentagon, and a green triangle. Each has a formula embroidered into its back for how to find the area of that specific shape.

It’s a little unclear which age group these toys are made for. On the one hand, the toys are cute and definitely more for a younger set. On the other, the formulas they provide are a bit more complicated and maybe more appropriate for middle school-aged kids. Still, the intention is noble in trying to get kids to learn math the “fun” way. For one of their own, backers must donate $16 for delivery in October 2015. GeoBunnies is hoping to raise $9,900 in funding on Kickstarter.

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Kids/Babies Music

The World’s First Kids Guitar is sized to let your chip off the old block rock

Kids GuitarThe World’s First Kids Guitar offers a six-strong guitar that’s specifically designed for kids. With a child’s size and accident proneness in mind, the right-sized instrument is designed to be lightweight with fragile parts better protected than they are on regular guitars. Different reward tiers offer a variety of perks including studio session time and the like, but the most basic reward tier that includes the guitar goes for $250; the project creator justifies the price by moting that the guitar uses premium components and materials. The current estimated availability is July 2014. The World’s First Kids Guitar’s creators are looking to raise $10,000 on Kickstarter in their 25-day campaign.