Parrot MiniDrone Rolling Spider

Like Sphero this is a Bluetooth remote controlled toy that uses your Android or iOS device as the controller.  And they have opened up the control API for their drones.   Some interesting block based visual coding tools have added support for the Parrot MiniDrone, as well as Sphero and some other devices.

If you need a little more excitement in your coding, and a cool toy it's worth checking out.

Tickle

This iOS app is adding support for more IoT (internet of things) devices every week. and Currently supports quite a few of the devices we've already mentioned.

• Parrot Minidrone
• Sphero
• Dash & Dot
• Ollie
• LightBlue Bean (Arduino)
• Philips Hue

Tynker

Tynker really got my attention when I found out they now support programming devices.  Currenlty they support just a couple, but with promise of adding more.  Tynker is actually a commercial venture offering both a free tool and minimal free tutorials, as well as some premium course content.  It's defiantly got higher production values than many of the other tools which can certainly help keep kids attention.   Another benefit is that it's HTML5 based and runs on just about any system desktop or mobile, and has tablet optimized apps for Android and iOS.

• Parrot Minidrone
• Sphero

Maker Camp at Long Island City Library!

http://makercamp.com/
http://www.queenslibrary.org/event/maker-camp

Scratch Jr

Scratch Jr is a tablet version of scratch.
It's not as full featured as scratch but it runs nicely on iOS and now Android tablets.
And it's fully language agnostic.  All icon driven and the instructions is in the form of an example video.   That means it's also great for pre-readers.

Your not going to create a custom game with it, but it's great at creating animated stories and interactive stories that you can share with your friends.   So it is empowering in teaching kids to create their own content rather than just consuming and playing games.  That's a welcome option for tablets which are so geared to consuming.

Also parents note it's easy enough to just install and let them go at it on their own without guidance, so go for it install it on your tablet and just leave it there and see what happen.

May the 4th be with you.

may the 4th be with you.

There are hints of a Sphero version of the Sphere droid.  Which is awesome.  Playing with Sphero 2.0 I wondered if it might be viable to add magnetically attached accessories like a hat.  I'm sure it's a challenge but let's hope they solved it.  

When I saw Sphero on Think Geek I though Meh a remote controlled ball, but when I got to play with one, I realized how cool it was.  Maybe less open play than a "ball" but WAY! more open play than a remote controlled ball.   It's a programmable, waterproof, robotic ball, which while just being a ball is so much more than those human shaped robots.

Which is to say COOL.

Compatible with iOS and Android.
Macrolab is a Block sequencing based scripting tool that uses the same concepts we covered in KidCode.   And a way to get our kids attention off the screen at the same time they are on it ;)

The Gift of Coding

Kids like coding, but need more immediate gratification?
Kids got board with maze puzzles?
Kids like playing with real toys rather than video games?  (OK unlikely but maybe parents are tired of the video games.)

check out this great review Robot toys that are kid tested and ready to work. Work to teach our kids both mechanical engineering and computer programming.

I tested many of these myself, and loved them.
I have to admit most of my favorites are LEGO compatible, but also key is being able to program them, and in particular program them with the same tools we learned in KidcodeQ, and Hour of Code.   Those being Blockly and MIT Scratch

I didn't get to play with these long, but  I loved Dot and Dash 
They are ready and easy to play with right out of the box.
You can program them with blockly
And you can attach your LEGOs!

Sphero, it seems so unassuming being "Just a ball" but that simplicity plus the fact that it just works right out of the box means it's super "open" and ready for programming.
There are a lot of app for it, that include programming options, but there are also hacks to control it with MIT Scratch.
With the chariot Sphero becomes LEGO compatible 

(though I used it with LEGOs even without.)

And last but not least LEGO WeDo and LEGO EV3  which are obviously a great addition to a LEGO collection.   I prefer WeDo for simpler programming introduction, and combining with standard LEGO bricks.   The programming interface is similar to Scratch, but Scratch also works with the WeDo sets out of the box no hacking needed.
EV3 has a more complex programming environment as well as parts that are of a different building style than traditional LEGO bricks so I'd consider this a Second Robot gift to give after you have already caught the Robot bug.   But it's the most powerful and the longest lasting in terms of learning most mechanical engineering and computer programming.

Hour of Code Frozen

This week is Computer science week and time for Hour of Code.
Join in by trying a fun tutorial GAME

http://code.org/learn

You will find old friends and new characters.

Free Hour of Code app for Tablets and Desktop the Foos

Awesome hour of code tutorial app.
 It's fun, free, language agnostic (and pre-reading)
It's also available for Android iPad and the web
http://thefoos.com/