Recommended Smart Toy Lists by Age

On the Dec. 13, 2014 program Sheri Kam, PR Specialist and involved mom and Sean McCarroll, social studies and technology teacher at Grosse Pointe North High School in suburban Detroit discussed “Smart Toys”.  The follow list shows the smart toys they recommend for each age group listed.

---

Young:

No Coding

• Tobbles Neo (0-2 Logic) or anything stacking
• Duplo
• K’nex Jr.
• Little Bits
• Snap Circuits

 

Ages 5-8:

Modicum Understanding of Coding and Circuits

• Thames and Kosmos
• Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks
• Marble Runs
• Legos
• More Little Bits
• Goldie Blox and the Movie Maker

 

Tweens Into Teens:

Coding, Sensors, Logic Streams, Fluid and Creative Thnking

• Fluxx Card Game (come in a variety of themes)
• Top Trumps Card Game (comes in a variety of themes)
• Ollie (App controlled robot) – a tube with treads
• Sphero (App controlled robot) – a fast moving orb
• Marble Runs (some have elevators and lifts)
• Lego Mindstorms
• Thames and Kosmos
• Arduino (controller)
• Raspberry Pi (microcomputer)
• Lily Twinkle and ProtoSnap LilyPad Development Board
• Gamer Kits for Arduino
• 3D Printer
• App Gift Card (Just be aware that there are some In-app purchase possibilities)
  • Foldify (Design 3D Designs – can be sent to conventional printer or 3D printer)
  • Minecraft
  • Electopocalypse (fundamentals of circuit design)
  • Plants vs. Zombies

---

Resources:

Keep trying—make lots of mistakes (the only way to learn)

• Adafruit — http://www.adafruit.com/
• Makershed — http://www.makershed.com/
• Amazon — http://www.amazon.com/

 

Freeware/Shareware:

Young Kids:

• Kodable Pro — https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-review
• Cato’s Hike (Adventure story) — https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/catos-hike-a-programming-and-logic-odyssey
• Scratch — https://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/scratch
• My Robot Friend — https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/my-robot-friend
• PBSkids – pbs.org
• Google Santa Tracker —https://santatracker.google.com/

Older Kids:

• Treehouse —teamtreehouse.com/
• Light-bot — http://lightbot.com/
• Mozilla Thimble — https://thimble.webmaker.org/
• Codecademy — http://www.codecademy.com/
• io — http://exercism.io/ (Exercism began as a way to support students learning to code by giving them practice problems and real world feedback.)