Snapino

I really, really want the kids to learn to be makers.  Sooo.... I purchased 3 Sparkfun Inventor kits and proceeded to teach them how to wire a bread board LED and program it using the Arduino IDE.  It turned out to be a complete disaster.  The kids ages 7, 8, 10 at the time came to hate it.  Stepping back I tried to figure out why.  First it turned out to be way to fiddly for kids that age.  By time we had wired the bread board to the Arduino, connected it to the computer and tried to program it from the Arduino IDE something inevitably went wrong.  The kids didn't have enough basic knowledge yet to debug the system.  So it became mom came in and magically fixed things.  Maria in frustration when we got her LED blinking that I did it for her and she had no clue how to do it herself, disgust and disappointment followed.  Second it was "school" work, they couldn't see how they could use it to play with.  

When I ran across the Snapino I instantly thought, wow this would be an excellent way to have the kids wire an Arduino without the fiddliness of having to wire a bread bread board.  Wiring up the Snapino was a snap (pun intended).  It connected to the computer and the Arduino IDE without a problem.  I went looking for a Scratch like programming environment and found mBlock.  mBlock can be used to program the Arduino using a visual programming environment.  Success from fiddliness was achieved.  The kids are now able learn how to program an Arduino and use electronic components with easy to use tools.  

Snapino is a nice introduction to Arduino and basic electronics that solves the fiddliness factor that tends to make the initial efforts in programing and electronics have such a steep learning curve. The combination of Snapino and mBlock is a great way to introduce microcontrollers, electronics, and programming.  

Code Gamer = Learning Fun

Matthew started out by building the controller.   The controller is Arduino based and has two input devices that are on the controller, a toggle button and a wheel.  It also has little guys that plug into the top of the controller that are sensors; temperature, sound, light, and touch.  The instructions were quite good and Matthew had no problem making the controller.

After the controller is put together you can play video games that require coding on the iPad to play. For example, you have to add the code to use the temperature sensor guy, Kelvin, before you can use Kelvin in the game.   The games teach the Arduino programming language.  It is always a parenting win when kids learn through playing.  Overall the games were well done with an excellent educational component.

The kit also comes with an electronic bread board some resistors and LEDs so the kids can use the game controllers Arduino for more experiments once they have used the game to learn to program in the Arduino IDE.

Code Gammer is well worth the investment to take kids from playing the games to making the games.

Roominate from "Meh" to "Super, Amazing, Awesome!"

When the folks at Computer Gear gave us the Roominate Townhouse to try out I was less than impressed.  The single motor didn't interest the girls and the parts didn't seem to encourage them to create with their own ideas.  They made the town house and it sat for several weeks.  I told Computer Gear I wasn't so sure about this product.  The folks at Computer Gear gave us the Expansion Pack Set combined with the Hub.  Maria, Amalia, and Alyssa were very excited to get it out and start building. The additional parts and hub made this toy go from a "meh" to a "super, awesome, amazing!", paraphrased from one of the girls.

In the expansion pack the girls really liked the led light strip.  Maria exclaimed, "cool a push button", as she pulled it out of the box.   I liked that it came with a screwdriver to put the batteries in.  Each motor or LED light strip requires a connection to a battery pack that uses 2 AAA batteries, if you don't connect them to the hub.  The hub requires 3 AAA batteries, but can power the motors and light strips this is nice as you don't need quite so many batteries.  I also liked that the wires were color coded red and blue with nice sturdy connectors to create circuits.

The Roominate hub added an additional play dimension that the kids really liked.  The hub allows the kids to change the speed and direction of the motors and to blink the lights.  "Blinking lights are so awesome!" was Maria's comment when she built a custom house and was outfitting it.  Maria did break out the tape to put the lights up in her house.

Maria tried to make a car with 2 motors.  After many engineering attempts she decided that she could not figure out how to make a car with out wheels and axles work well.  It was quite interesting watch her run through all her ideas on how to engineer a car.

After a nearly a week on our living room floor here are some conclusions about this toy.  Amalia and Alyssa really liked the girls and the critters that came with the sets.  They also liked the showcase app that gave them ideas of what they could build.  All 3 of them spent several hours on a very hot day making and playing with a shaved ice stand, using the round connecting disks for money.  They had a house, a school, a library, lots of furniture and played very creatively.  Maria would normally be bored playing little people house but with the addition of the electronics she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Total Eclipse 2017

My kids have been looking forward to the total eclipse since last January when Amalia read about it in her reading comprehension.  The best learning happens when the kids want to know about a particular topic.  The folks at Computer Gear were super nice and gave me a copy of their NASA Eclipse Guide and spectroscope that is included with the guide.  The guide is full of science experiments that teach about sun, light and the solar system.  Here are the experiments that we tried.

The NASA Eclipse Activity Guide is a great set of experiments to learn about the sun and the upcoming total solar eclipse on August 21^st 2017.  The kids love learning when it involves hands on activities.  The activity guide has space science tie-ins and bits of history as well as providing related cool facts.  Included is a “Diffraction Grating Slide” to make the Cereal Box Spectroscope.

The kids really liked making UV detecting bracelets with UV Beads.  We extended the activity to see which of our sunscreens worked best by putting sunscreen on the beads and seeing if they turned as dark of a color. An excellent experiment demonstrating why you should wear your sunscreen!

We also made the Cereal Box Spectroscope using the Diffraction Grating Slide that comes with the activity guide.  The kids liked checking out different lights. 

Over the next few weeks we plan on doing several more of the experiments in the guide to keep the kids interest in the upcoming solar eclipse.  I’m especially looking forward to the solar oven s’mores experiment and demonstrating how much heat energy the sun provides and how during the solar eclipse the temperature is expected to drop.