Top Brands: Sphero - Wonder Workshop - Makeblock - Amazon Kids
BLACK FRIDAY: Amazon Fire Kids Pro 10"
BLACK FRIDAY: Amazon Fire Kids Pro 10"
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.
We're loving the kits made by Technology Will Save Us, and recently they launched a campaign in celebration of the German band, Kraftwerk. They sent us a DIY Synth Kit to play with and we had fantastic fun making music.
It was inset day on Friday and my teen and I had a play with the DIY Synth Kit. We only had time to make one of the 3 different configurations, so there's still lots of exploring and fun to be had with the kit. There's even an extension project to connect with your Arduino.
Read our first impressions of the DIY Synth Kit by Technology Will Save Us (TWSU) and perhaps you could still get one for a techie maker in the family for Christmas. They are good fun and you will definitely learn a lot about electronics.
What's in the Box
If you read our blog regularly, you'll know I've reviewed another product by TWSU, called Electro Dough and there I make a comment about my love for their packaging. The simple cardboard box, with beautifully designed outer sleeve, holds every you need to make your DIY Synth, except for a 9V battery (the big rectangular one). Don't throw the box away, as it becomes the casing for your synth.
The kit uses a breadboard (no, not the wooden one you cut your loaf on) to complete the project. Using a breadboard allows your teen to work with real electronic components without the need for soldering. Breadboards can be a great tool for budding electronics engineers and you can read a useful Instructable here: Comprehensive Guide to Breadboards
Who's it best for
There are lots of tiny and delicate electrical components so we don't recommend this kit for younger kids. TWSU recommends it for 12+ but all children are different and if a parent and child work together you may be able to use with a younger aged child.
We have a teen and younger kids in our family. The kit worked well for us, because the older sibling enjoyed the build, and the younger ones really enjoyed making music by turning the potentiometers.
How to Build it
The "Getting Started" leaflet included with the kit tells you exactly what all the components are and then points you online for the build instructions. TWSU provide online instructions for three different synths:
We chose to make the Atari Punk Console. My teen and I built it together and it was so simple following the instructions online. They say it will take up to an hour to complete, but we managed it in 30 min. I learnt a lot (not an electronics expert) and it was a fantastic activity to share with my teen, who does tinker a bit with breadboards and electronics.
We didn't need any tools to complete the project, apart from scissors to cut the double sided tape and also the 9V battery to power the unit.
We think TWSU have done a fantastic work on their online instructions, as it's very clear where all the components fit into the breadboard, and they use the opportunity to teach you about every electronic component as you build.
Thankfully our kit worked first time (phew). Then, we tried to add another speakers, but it didn't work. But this is exactly what I love about the TWSU kit, it gets you started and then suddenly you start to imagine other things that could potentially work.
Unfortunately we didn't have time to try the other two synth projects, but when we do we're sure to write about them too.
We didn't need any tools to complete the project, apart from scissors to cut the double sided tape and also the 9V battery to power the unit.
We think TWSU have done a fantastic work on their online instructions, as it's very clear where all the components fit into the breadboard, and they use the opportunity to teach you about every electronic component as you build.
Building with the teen |
Thankfully our kit worked first time (phew). Then, we tried to add another speakers, but it didn't work. But this is exactly what I love about the TWSU kit, it gets you started and then suddenly you start to imagine other things that could potentially work.
Unfortunately we didn't have time to try the other two synth projects, but when we do we're sure to write about them too.
Play and Make Music
TWSU made a mini music video using the DIY Synth, in honour of the German band, Kraftwerk. It's a great inspiration of the type of fun music you can make with your DIY synth, so do check it out.
Image Credit: Technology Will Save Us |
My teen built the kit, but my younger kids have enjoyed making music with it. Here is their mini music session (by 5 & 7 year olds):
We now have lots of ideas, which we're going to try out over the Christmas break.
Get yours from the Technology Will Save Us Shop and tell us what you made.
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At Tech Age Kids we've been testing and writing about kids coding toys for over 10 years. This post is our round up of the current optio...
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- my first robot
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- physics
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- playstation 4
- plezmo
- pocket code
- pocket money
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- pokemon go
- poll
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- pre-teens
- prehistory
- preschoolers
- primary
- printable
- products
- professor einstein
- programming
- project
- projects
- puzzles
- python
- racing
- raspberry pi
- reading
- reivew
- remote control
- research
- resource
- resources
- retro
- review
- rights
- robot
- robot dog
- robot fish
- robot wars
- ROBOTERRA
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- robotics
- robots
- role models
- role play
- romo
- romotive
- root
- rover
- safety
- sam labs
- samuel morse
- sandbox
- schools
- science
- scratch
- scratchjr
- screen time
- screenless
- screens
- sensors
- servos
- simbrix
- skills
- skylanders
- skylanders superchargers
- skylanders swap force
- smart pens
- smartphone
- smartwatch
- snap circuits
- social media
- solar power
- soldering
- sonic pi
- sony koov
- sound
- space
- sparki
- speaker
- speech sythesis
- sphero
- sphero mini
- spider
- star wars
- stars
- STEAM
- stem
- stikbot
- stop motion
- stop motion studio
- storage
- story
- strawbees
- students
- subscription
- subscriptions
- sugru
- summer
- swift
- tablet
- tablets
- tangible coding
- tech
- tech age
- tech craft
- tech is bad
- tech is good
- tech toys
- tech will save us
- technology
- technology will save us
- teens
- teknikio
- tekno
- teksta
- tenka labs
- tesla
- textiles
- thames & kosmos
- the extraordinaires
- tim berners lee
- tinkercad
- tinybop
- toddlers
- toot-toot
- top pick
- touch
- toy
- toys
- travelling
- TTS
- TV
- tween
- tweens
- tynker
- typing
- ux
- vehicles
- videos
- view-master
- views
- virtual reality
- voice assistants
- voice recognition
- vr
- vtech
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