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.

LEGO Technic Kinetic Sculptures, Machines and Contraptions



We've previously written about our frustration at the lack of LEGO Technic sets that are not vehicles. My kids just aren't interested in vehicles but they love building LEGO machines that actually do something.

They want to build amazing machines that do interesting stuff. Ultimately they'd like to come up with their own designs but it's really useful to follow models built by others initially to develop the skills. My 9 year old has recently got really interested in building LEGO Kinetic Sculptures and models so we've been looking again to see what's available.

I've taken a look at the LEGO Technic range for 2016, and it's more vehicles.

LEGO Crazy Contraptions

We've had a lot of success with the fabulous Klutz LEGO Crazy Contraptions book which uses technic parts to create fun mechanisms. This is a really good option for getting started. The book comes with the LEGO Technic pieces that you need to build the models and is great value. It's very convenient to know that you've got all the Technic pieces you need to make the models.

There's also a follow-on Klutz LEGO Chain Reactions set which builds a set of models that can be chained together. The end result triggers a tennis ball being dropped for a dog to catch, Ruby approved.

LEGO Power Functions Idea Book


There's also the LEGO Power Functions Idea Book which has some great mechanisms that can be automated using a LEGO Power Functions motor. This very visual book introduces lots of useful building techniques.

You'll need a good range of Technic LEGO to be able to build all the models in the book. We bought a big collection of LEGO Technic parts on eBay to go with our Power Functions set.


JK Brickworks Models

My 9 year old son has recently been inspired by the fantastic models over at JK Brickworks.

We've written a post about his experience building the amazing Sisyphus LEGO kinetic sculpture. It was hard work finding all the pieces but the model was made from common parts so we were quite successful except for a few placces where we had to compromise. It was definitely worth the effort! This model was also designed to work with a LEGO power functions motor.

One of the models from JKBrickworks has even been made into a product via LEGO Ideas. Yay, a Technic-centric LEGO set that isn't a vehicle and does something cool. This is a great example of what can be done with a technical build and there are lots more at the JKBrickworks site.


LEGO Education Sets

The LEGO 9689 Simple Machines Set is a great set for exploring the principles of machines. It has instructions for lots of technical models to build. 

The LEGO Education Simple And Motorized Mechanisms uses LEGO Power Functions components to automate models. There are also add-on Pneumatics and Renewable energy sets that extend this base set.

The education sets are obviously designed for use in an education setting, but if you have an interested child then they're good for home use too.

LEGO WeDo 

LEGO WeDo is another range designed for educational use. It combines LEGO Technic parts with programmable electronic components to allow kids to create cool models. It's fantastic. It is expensive for home use but will make sense for some families.

The instructions for the models is provided in software which is an additional cost, but a necessary one to make the most of the set. The older LEGO WeDo range is still available and the new bluetooth LEGO WeDo 2.0 version came out this year. Check out our LEGO WeDo 1.0 vs 2.0 comparison or look for LEGO WeDo on eBay.

Other LEGO Ranges

Other LEGO ranges often feature some Technic pieces and Technic-style constructions. These aren't usually the main feature of the set and don't offer a big technical build, but they do offer more choice. 

My kids have collected quite a few Technic pieces from the Ninjago range, usually still from vehicles, but at least they are fantasy vehicles which my kids much prefer. 

The LEGO Angry Birds range has some cool contraptions which are worth checking out, LEGO Friends has an upcoming amusement park range which includes a large roller coaster, and LEGO NEXO Knights also have some sets with moving parts. You'll find Technic parts in the Star Wars theme and elsewhere too. 

LEGO Creator Fairground Sets

For older builders there are the LEGO Creator Fairground sets. These are amazing, but they're big and expensive.  LEGO have brought out various Ferris wheel sets over the years.

Ferris wheels are cool, but by their nature the build is quite repetitive! They take up a lot of space too. It would be nice to see some other big models that have kinectic features.


Verdict

There are some non-vehicle Technic options for getting started and in the LEGO education range but we'd like to see more fun models designed for home use that help develop kids engineering skills.   




24 days of Scratch coding book cover and cute penguin
Name

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Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children: LEGO Technic Kinetic Sculptures, Machines and Contraptions
LEGO Technic Kinetic Sculptures, Machines and Contraptions
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Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children
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