Sphero has made some fab robots and tech-toys for children, from its original ball-shaped robot to fully-licensed Star Wars droids. They haven’t been cheap though: parents on a tight budget have looked on with envy, I suspect.
British company Kano has got plenty of press for its computer kit of the same name, which children build themselves and plug in to a monitor or TV. They can use it to learn programming, create music, make games and control other devices…
There have been a few programmable-robot toys for children in the last couple of years, and while they can be really fun and educational, they can also be really expensive. Or at least out of the budgets of many families.
Try as I might, I can’t get my 10 year-old son to eat any form of potatoes. Perhaps he’ll be more amenable to the idea of programming with them. Especially if they’re pirates.
There have been a few toy robots that aim to encourage children to code in recent years. Maunzi is the latest, and like many of those other bots, this project is raising money on crowdfunding website Kickstarter to get off the ground.
The UK’s network of Code Clubs has been a popular way for 9–11 year-olds to learn and practise programming skills: the organisation says that more than 85,000 children are currently part of a local club.
