NEWS$show=/search/label/news

Here's where you'll find all the latest news about technology for children. We love to follow cool new inventions on Kickstarter and we hunt out all the latest announcements about tech toys and gadgets for the coming Christmas holidays. You'll also get our take on children's technology stories in the media.

REVIEWS$show=/search/label/review

Our kids technology product reviews are intended to help you work out whether a toy, gadget or kit is a good fit for your child or family. There's lots of cool stuff available, but is it the right choice for the child or teenager that you are buying for? We'll help you make the right choices and get the best value for money.

GIFT GUIDES$show=/search/label/gift%20guide

Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends assemble. We create gift lists to help you make good choices for kids technology which helps them develop the right skills for the future. We research the best in Coding Toys and Games, Making / Craft Tools and Kits, STEM/STEAM related gifts, Programmable Robots, Electronics Kits and Gadgets for Tech Age Kids and Teens.

PROJECTS$show=/search/label/project

Get crafty with technology. Here we'll post all our ideas and projects using technology to get creative and making with kids. You'll find anything from making a lemon battery to a glow-in-the-dark Minecraft sword. Our projects are tried and tested on our own kids or at events we run, so we are sure you can have a go at home with your kids. Some of our projects use specific tech gadgets which we provide links for you to purchase.

STEM$show=/search/label/stem

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In recent years there is an increased focus in these areas of study. We like to include Art and Design too, so we often talk about STEAM (A stands for Art). At Tech Age Kids we believe Coding is a new literacy and children need to understand how technology works, practice making skills and grow in their curiosity to make a better future for us all.

CODING$show=/search/label/coding

Coding is increasingly being recognised as an important skill for children to learn. Some will learn to code at school or at a coding club, but it's brilliant if they get support at home too.

ELECTRONICS$show=/search/label/electronics

We think it's really important for kids to get hands-on with electronics and learn how to make circuits and write code to control hardware. Younger kids can start with conductive playdough. For kids who like to combine craft and tech, littleBits are fab. And we love SAM Labs wireless electronics components for making it easy for kids to make Internet of Things inventions. Lots of electronics kits for kids have support for the Arduino microprocessor environment. The DuinoKit Jr is one of our favourites. Arduino is a fab skill for older kids and teens to develop.

ROBOTICS$show=/search/label/robotics

We love robots at Tech Age Kids, especially programmable ones. We've got lots of them and write reviews and projects that use them. Our programmable robots for kids buying guide is a good place to start if you're not sure what's available. Roby the mBot Meccano robot dog is one of our popular projects and has been with us to lots of events. Our Ozobot LEGO trailer is fab for kids who love LEGO and robots.

MAKING AND CRAFT$show=/search/label/making

We're advocates of the creative use of technology, but this needs to be balanced with developing physical skills such as papercraft, woodwork, clay modelling, technical drawing and soldering. If children don't develop these skills as they grow up then physical making projects can become frustrating rather than fun. The Maker Community uses the term 'making' as a broad term to include all sorts of artisan skills or craft activities. Being able to make things can lead to life-long hobbies or even careers. It's a great feeling to be able to take a project from an idea in your head to a real object that does something. We're particularly interested to explore products that combine maker skills with tech skills such as electronics but others focus purely on the physical making skills that are still important to modern making.

Interview with Makers of Hackaball



We are really excited about all the cool tech currently developed for kids in the UK.  Last week we caught up with Seb Potter from Made By Many who gave us a special demo of their new gadget - Hackaball.

Hackaball is a smart and responsive ball that lets kids invent and play games. We really like toys that let kids get creative with tech. They successfully funded their project on Kickstarter last year and will be delivering backers' products in March this year.

If you missed the Crowdfunded Campaign, you can pre-order Hackaball here.




Hackaball brings tech and the physical world together. Aimed at kids aged 5 and up, it is versatile enough to be a tech toy for outdoor play and a ball you can literally hack.

By hack we mean, you can take the ball apart to reveal a disk-shaped inner "brain" which can be used to create your own new creations. We really like this feature of Hackaball.

Kids can code their own games and take it outside to play with friends. The introduction video below gives you a flavour of Hackaball's creative play.



Interview with Hackaball Inventors


Thank you to Seb and the Hackaball team for answering some questions about Hackaball, Kid Tech in the UK and their personal childhood tech experiences.

How does the tech work in Hackaball?

Hackaball is built using a custom circuit board with eight super-bright LEDs, a speaker, a powerful vibration motor, motion sensor, and a bluetooth module all controlled by an ARM Cortex M0 processor.

We've written firmware for the electronics that turns the motion sensor data into a set of actions that everyone will recognise playing with a ball, and a simple rule-based system that allows you to control the LEDs, sound and vibration in response to those motions.

The app connects to the ball via Bluetooth LE to upload games that you've created to the ball, and also for the app to show what the ball is doing whilst it's being played with.


Why is so much cool kid tech happening in the UK?

The UK has a long-standing tradition of innovation in digital technology that stretches back at least to the early 1980s and innovations like the BBC Micro and the ZX Spectrum.

We believe that much of the exploding tech scene in the UK is the result of a whole generation of makers and inventors who grew up learning to make things, to experiment, and to learn from the results, and who now want to inspire the next generation to do the same.

What technology do the Hackaball inventors remember from their childhoods?

Seb is a child of the 80s, so the big defining technology for him was seeing the first consumer computing in toys like Big Trak (a programmable electric vehicle), and his first computer which was the ZX Spectrum.

(Our kids still love to play with Big Trak here at Tech Age Kids)

Why do you think kids should be able to "hack" their own toys?”


There's a huge skills challenge in technology that has arisen in no small part because of technology education that teaches kids how to use software rather than how to create it. We live in an increasingly-connected world in which the ability to think creatively and solve problems with technology will be one of the defining skill-sets for the industries of the next few decades.

We want Hackaball to be the start of a movement to make smart, fun toys that teach kids that technology is a tool for shaping the world in ways that we might not even be able to imagine yet.



Tech Age Kids' Views

During our special demo, Hackaball CEO, Seb Potter, shared some exciting developments to look forward to.

They are working on the charging capability of the ball to last upto 6 hrs, with only 30 min charging time required. This will be very useful for schools.

Hackaball is excited to get kids coding, and will make their communication protocols open source to inspire kids to REALLY hack the ball.

Currently Hackaball only works with iPad or iPhone devices, but an Andriod app in on its way.

Hackaball is perfect for outdoor play, "the ball is designed to bounce" says Seb from Made By Many. Getting kids off tablets and active will be at the top of most parents’ agenda, and Hackaball seems to tick that box.

We think Hackaball will make a fantastic family toy, for tech-loving families, with the potential of future development and hacking fun. Hackaball will retail at $85 | £75.

We wish Hackaball every success and look forward to have our own hands-on-review. Subscribe to Tech Age Kids, so not to miss future posts about Hackaball.






**About Hackaball Ltd, Made by Many**
Hackaball Ltd has been founded by Made by Many and MAP Project Office as a product-focused startup to take the Hackaball product to market and continue its development. It is privately owned and independent from Made by Many and MAP Project Office.

Made by Many is an innovation consultancy that works with leading global brands to build digital ventures that transform markets. The company combines strategy, design and engineering skills to identify opportunities and rapidly design, launch and scale new product ideas. Since 2007 Made by Many has put digital at the heart of business at Burberry, Universal Music Group, ITV, Adidas, Skype, World Economic Forum, Finnair, the V&A Museum and the BBC.

Source: The PR Network; Interview with Seb Potter (CEO of Hackaball).
Image Credit: Hackaball

24 days of Scratch coding book cover and cute penguin
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Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children: Interview with Makers of Hackaball
Interview with Makers of Hackaball
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Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children
https://www.techagekids.com/2016/01/interview-with-makers-of-hackaball.html
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