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.
The VTech Toot Toot (known as Go! Go! in the USA) range is a fantastic toy for babies, toddlers and little kids which encourages creative and imaginative play with a technology twist. The range includes Toot Toot Drivers, the classic track and vehicle toy, as well as Toot Toot Friends and their latest set Toot Toot Animals. The cars and figures use the "Smartpoint" technology to play specific phrases and melodies.
- Note: In light of recent news about VTech's security breach on its Learning Lodge App, we would like to highlight the VTech Toot Toot (Go! Go!) range does not connect with the Learning Lodge and furthermore does not require any personal data shared.
We've been playing with a Toot Toot Drivers set at our friend's house and were really impressed. My youngest (5) really enjoyed playing with it. My friend's kids are ages 2, 4 and 6 and she comments it's a fantastic toy that all three kids enjoy playing together. In fact when I picked my kids up from her house yesterday, it was the older ones playing with the set, creating elaborate tracks.
Construction
We like the construction aspect of the Toot Toot range, allowing kids to design and build their own track or road layout for the vehicles.
For younger kids it is easy to put a simple track together and often a single circle which a toddler can sit inside and play around is the most effective. Younger kids would be more interested in driving the vehicles and animals on the track.
Older kids benefit from building it. It is a brilliant toy for a wide range of ages.
There are a variety of track and road piece, including adjustable corner and length pieces. Their puzzle-like shaped ends, makes it easy to build and take apart.
Age and Gender
VTech recommends ages 1 - 5 for their Toot Toot sets, however we think if you have older siblings, they will still enjoy creating complex structures for the little ones to play on. If you have multiple track or road sets, there is the challenge of using all the pieces to complete a track. This will develop their design and logical thinking skills.
The lights and sounds on the vehicles, figures and animals are very appealing for younger kids and can be used as stand alone toys too.
We love the bright colours making it a true gender neutral toy. Girls and boys alike, can enjoy playing with the whole VTech Toot Toot, without the stereotypical girl/boy divide.
Connect various sets
VTech has done well to allow the different sets to connect with each other. The train track and road set, as well as the Animal and Friends range, can be built together. This is one of those toys, which you can buy for baby's first birthday and continue to build on to it, knowing you will get years of good value and play fun.
Technology
The Smartpoint technology is simple but really clever. Each vehicle and animal have comb-like buttons on the front underside which are pressed in by a specific raised pattern (Smartpoints) on the track / road. The pattern triggers a specific combination of buttons which plays a specific phrase or melody.
Smartpoints located at buildings will make vehicles play phrases related to that activity or building.
This is a brilliant way of learning cause and effect. Ask you child, what will happen if you push your car over this Smartpoint?
Each vehicle has a big "face" button, which lights up and plays different melodies and phrases when pressed. This feature makes them perfect as standalone toys, which will provide entertainment away from the track and road too. As the vehicle "speak" phrases it is also great for language development. The vehicles and animals feel robust and easy to handle for little hands.
Remote Control Car for Toddlers
VTech has brought out a remote control (RC) Racer car, which can be used on the track / road too. It has a simple forward and backwards button on the remote control which is perfect for a toddler's first RC vehicle. The Racer comes with 3 sing-along songs, 6 melodies and lots of interactive sound effects. The car also has a big interactive button on the car for more sound and light effects.
Power
The range requires a lot of batteries however according to my friend they do last a long time. Each vehicle needs a single AAA battery which is easily changed using a coin screw. Most of the sets have an electronic element which will need AAA batteries. We recommend using rechargeable batteries.
Conclusion
Engages all the kids, older ones like to build the track and the young ones like the lights and sounds. Tanya (mum)Tech Age Kids recommends the VTech Toot Toot range for babies, toddlers and little kids. It's a brilliant toy with longevity, designed with boys and girls in mind and teaches logic and cause-and-effect skills. We really like that different sets can build on each other and vehicles can interact with different sets.
The Toot Toot range even has a brilliant little advent calendar which we wrote about earlier.
If this Toot Toot range was available when my kids were younger, I would have definitely considered investing in the range. We spent hours building our Brio wooden train tracks and pushing the trains along.
We like the extend-ability and flexibility of the VTech Toot Toot (Go! Go!) range. And as a mum, I really like they are easy to clean (made from robust plastic) and easy to put away. Because sometimes toys need to sleep in boxes.
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- electronic toys
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- electtronics
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- flutterbye fairy
- flying
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- gadgets
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- games console
- games consoles
- gaming
- gift guide
- gifts
- girls
- giveaway
- glow in the dark
- grace hopper
- grove
- hackaball
- hacksoton
- halloween
- halloween costumes
- hardware
- headphones
- health
- hexbug
- hexbug aquabots
- hexbug project
- high school
- history
- home
- home education
- homeschool
- hot toys
- hour of code
- html
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- ICT
- in app purchasing
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- industry event
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- k'nex robotics
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- keyboard
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- kits
- kodu
- kubo
- label printer
- languages
- laptop
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- learning tablets
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- lego chain reactions
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- lego power functions
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- lego wedo
- let's start coding
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- lightseekers
- little kids
- littlebits
- logiblocs
- logic
- logical thinking
- loom
- machines
- magnetic
- make it
- makeblock
- makedo
- maker
- makey makey
- making
- mardles
- mars
- mars rover
- marty
- math
- maths
- mbot
- mbot ranger
- me arm
- meccano
- meccanoid
- meccanoid 2.0
- merge vr
- mews
- michael faraday
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- microbit
- microcontroller
- microscope
- microsoft
- middle school
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- mindstorms
- minecraft
- minecraft mods
- mixed reality
- mobile
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- mothers day
- motion capture
- motors
- mover kit
- movie
- movies
- mu
- mu toys
- munzee
- music
- my first robot
- national dog day
- nature
- new
- new year
- news
- news coding
- nikola tesla
- nintendo
- nintendo switch
- ohbot
- ollie
- on the web
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- origami
- osmo
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- ouya
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- papercraft
- paperwhite
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- parenting
- parrot
- pc
- people
- pet tech
- pets
- phone
- photography
- photon
- physics
- pi day
- picks
- pimoroni
- pinoccio
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- pixelart
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- playstation 4
- plezmo
- pocket code
- pocket money
- pokemon
- pokemon go
- poll
- pre order
- 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
- roboticals
- 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
- web
- websites
- wifi
- wii
- wii u
- windows 8
- wonder workshop
- wowwee
- writing
- writing. education
- xbox one
- xyzprinting