5 FUN WAYS TO TEACH PROGRAMMING WITH TOYS
Over the years, toys have proved to be a remarkable tool when
educating young children, especially when it comes to more complex subject
matters. Toys can cleverly dis guise the act of learning through an immersive
and interactive activity, which makes developing a new skill fun for your kids.
This is the fun way many kids are learning the basics of how to
code. Considering that the industry is growing at twice the national average,
there has never been a better time for children (or adults) to start coding.
WHY SHOULD YOUR KID LEARN
PROGRAMMING?
As I'm sure you've noticed, the world is becoming more and more
digital each day. For a lot of us, the majority of our days are spent in front
of a screen, whether that screen is your computer or your smartphone.
For every screen you use, there was someone (if not many peo ple)
who had to program those features and functions.
Therefore, learning basic coding and programming skills can open
up many new career opportunities for you, the majority of which pay quite well.
Learning to code also gives you many opportunities to be more
creative.
You can make an interactive Web site, a helpful tool that solves a
common problem or anything else you can dream up.
With so many benefits of learning to code, why wouldn't you want
to start your child's learning early? Check out the five toys below that can
help make this goal a reality. The best thing about toys is that learning will
be a “side-effect“ of play.
1 Sphero
Remember those RC racing cars you played with as a kid? Sphero is
the next generation, smarter version of those. Sphero and its companion
product, Ollie, will teach your kids the basics of programming by letting them
control the actions of this cute little robot. Turn your surround ings into an
obstacle course, use an augmented reali ty app to battle virtual zombies, or
play “Pass the Sphero“ via one of the toy's multiplayer apps.
There are many different apps that you can down load to control
your Sphero or Ollie robot, most of which are available for iOS and Android
devices.
If you're looking for a fun way to get your kids excit ed about programming
and technology, this toy is a great choice.
Sphero can be purchased for $99.99, with upgrades and various
accessories available for an additional cost. It ships to India via Amazon.
2 LittleBits
The concept behind littleBits is pretty creative: Choose and
connect tons of modules together to see what you can create with a little bit
of power and your imagination. Feed your cat at the tap of a button, power a
light or start a countdown timer.
By snapping small circuitry pieces onto one another, you and your
kids can learn how circuits work and develop your programming abilities, all
while creating something awesome. Of course, littleBits products are put
through rigorous test ing to ensure their safety. They are approved for use by
children of ages eight and up, although you should certainly supervise your
children's use of them.
Prices for littleBits start at $99 (not inclusive of shipping for
India) for the Base Kit and go up from there. The Base Kit includes 10 modules
and is suggested as a good starter for younger littleBits users.
3 Hello Ruby
Venturing into familiar storybook territory is Hello Ruby, a
whimsi cal way for kids to discover and learn about programming through a
classic adventure story. The book will be available soon, with companion apps
in the works.
Hello Ruby teaches the principles of programming by way of
breaking down big problems and pattern recognition via a structured and proven
approach.
Over the course of 96 pages and the companion apps, readers will be
able to put what they've learned into practice and create things they never
thought they could in code. You can pre-order the Hello Ruby ebook for $9.99 or
$12.96 for physical version.
4 Robot Turtles
Robot Turtles strives to combine coding and creativity and it does
this in a way that no other item on this list is able to do. Essentially, it's
a Choose Your Own Adventure that blends programming best practices into
physical and digital board games.
The creator of Robot Turtles, Dan Shapiro, designed the game to
appeal to his kids and, by extension, everyone else's. As kids move their
turtles around, they have to combine individual commands, which essentially
creates a line of code. In this way, it sneaks the basics of programming into a
fun game. The game is recommended for kids above three. It retails for $24.99,
shipping extra.
5 Dash & Dot
This toy stimulates the way children learn best by letting them
choose how they'd like to play, be that with building blocks, adventuring with
a friend or using their imagination to do something else. Your child's mission
will be to teach either the Dash or the Dot robot how to play, by remotely
controlling (via your mobile device) their actions. The creative possibilities
are endless and kids can program the robots to squeal when they're held,
navigate sharp corners or even avoid objects. The cheapest option is the
standard Dash robot, which costs $169.99. Shipping to India is extra.
|
Matt Smith
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MM2JUL15
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