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 DuinoKit Jr is an Arduino learning environment which comes on a single board and is packaged in a metal case which stores jumper wires and the USB cable needed to connect the kit to a PC. You also get a set of spy-style mission cards that teach hardware control through a series of fun lessons that use the kit.
Arduino is a popular choice for hardware control projects and learned how to develop for the Arduino platform is a really useful skill set for young people.
In this hands-on review we'll take you through what to expect from the DuinoKit Jr and give our views on the kinds of families and kids that would benefit from it.
Disclosure: Tech Age Kids received a DuinoKit Jr for this review. This doesn't influence our opinions.
Overview
The DuinoKit Jr is a learning and prototyping kit for controlling electronics components using the popular Arduino platform. It's a self-contained package with hardware and lessons, you just connect to a PC for programming.The kit contains a single board with lots of electronics components mounted on it. You don't need to solder components or even attach them to breadboard. You just use simple jumper wires to connect components.
Educational content, written by a teacher, is provided which teaches Arduino development skills. The content is presented as a series of Missions which will appeal to young people.
Once the course has been completed a young person will have the skills to come up with their own projects using the kit and to use it for prototyping projects that they can then build from regular components.
DuinoKit Jr is the smaller version of the DuinoKit which started as a Kickstarter project.
Required Skills
DuinoKit Jr would be suitable for older children and teenagers who already have some experience of programming using a text-based programming language. The focus here is learning how to control hardware. The programming required is not complex, but would be a big jump for someone with no previous coding experience.
For families with younger children a DuinoKit would make an interesting family project with parent and child working together and this is how we have been using it. My 7 and 9 year olds have really enjoyed trying it out. They are able to complete the simpler missions himself with guidance from a parent - the main thing that stops my younger son doing more himself is his typing speed.
For families with younger children a DuinoKit would make an interesting family project with parent and child working together and this is how we have been using it. My 7 and 9 year olds have really enjoyed trying it out. They are able to complete the simpler missions himself with guidance from a parent - the main thing that stops my younger son doing more himself is his typing speed.
Hardware
The Arduino Nano processor and all the electronics components used in the projects are mounted on a single board. The components on the board are all clearly labelled so you can see what everything is:
This includes a really good range of components:
- Lots of coloured LEDs, some paired with push button switches
- An RGB LED
- A light sensor
- Temperature and humidity sensor
- A potentiometer (variable resistor)
- An LCD (liquid crystal display)
- A distance sensor
- Piezo buzzer (horrible noise maker!)
- Real time clock
- Rotary encoder
- Infra-red sender and receiver (as used by remote controls)
The required resistors are built in to the board and you also get jumper wires and a USB cable to connect to a computer.
There's also a battery input so you can make projects portable once they are programmed. This is a nice touch for showing off completed projects.
The main omission is motors or servos, but they tend to be a focus with most robot programming kits so it's actually nice to have something different.
Getting Started
You'll need a PC to write software on and you use the provided USB cable to connect the DuinoKit to the computer.
We found that the USB cable is a bit of a tight fit between the components, but it does go in and we could leave the cable connected and still close the case so it only had to be done once.
We found that the USB cable is a bit of a tight fit between the components, but it does go in and we could leave the cable connected and still close the case so it only had to be done once.
To use the DuinoKit you need to install the Arduino software development IDE and possibly drivers, select the right board and COM port.
This is where the kit falls down slightly. There's not a lot of information on how to do this and it can be a bit daunting if you've never done it before. It's tricky to have detailed instructions because it depends on the operating system and other details. You can go to the online forum for help if you need it.
Getting started wasn't a problem for us, but I'd recommend getting through the setup part before you give the kit to an enthusiastic child.
Mission Cards (Projects)
The DuinoKit Jr comes with a set of 20 Mission Cards. These make the difference between having a load of electronics kit that sits in a cupboard gathering dust and actually having your kids learn about Arduino programming.
The mission format drew my kids in immediately. As they complete each mission and its sub-missions you tick them off on an accomplishments card which is a great motivator. There are guided parts and 'should you choose to accept it!' follow on activities.
The Mission Cards include a wide variety of projects that use the included electronics components in fun ways. You get to build a Weather Station, a Morse Code Device and learn how remote controls work, plus lots more.
There's plenty of breadth here and you get to use a really wide variety of components.
Storage Case
I'm rather obsessed with storage for our tech, we have lots of kit and it's really annoying when the kids are keen to do a project and we can't find something. The DuinoKit Jr scores very highly in this regard, it comes with its own metal flight case.
The board with all the electronics is fixed in the case. The case has room for the USB cable, jumper wires and mission cards.
This is a fantastic design. It means that everything is ready to go whenever you need it. The case looks fantastic when it's stored and it's so much more durable than a cardboard box. It's also very techie-looking and really appealed to my kids as soon as they saw it.
Home Use
DuinoKit is a good choice in homes where parents haven't got a lot of technical expertise or would struggle to find time or inspiration to come up with lots of projects.
The course is well structured so once teens are up and running they will be able to work through the kit independently and develop the skills they need to come up with their own projects.
For younger kids DuinoKit would be great for families that want to learn together.
Clubs and Schools
DuinoKit Jr would work really web in an after-school or holiday tech club or camp. The completeness of the solution means that it would be possible for an interested teacher to just stay a lesson ahead of the children.
There are certainly cheaper options for hardware few offer such a complete solution. But you'll have to worry about designing compatible circuits and including resistors. This is all done for you with the DuinoKit.
Cheaper options typically require a lot more effort to turn into a course that you can teach. You'll either need to purchase a companion book or write your own lesson plans and you'll need to think about how children will access tutorial materials.
Cheaper options typically require a lot more effort to turn into a course that you can teach. You'll either need to purchase a companion book or write your own lesson plans and you'll need to think about how children will access tutorial materials.
You might want to laminate the DuinoKit Mission Cards to protect them, but the lesson content is all there, ready to go and designed for the hardware.
If you bought separate components you would also have to think about how you will store and keep track of all the components. With DuinoKit you just grab the case and go.
There's very little to do to set up a DuinoKit at the beginning of a lesson or pack it away at the end of a lesson so you can really make the most of the time.
Conclusion
DuinoKit Jr is a brilliant introduction to microprocessor programming for older kids and teens who are comfortable with text-based programming. It also works well as a project kit for a family to use if the parents are willing to get involved and work on projects along with their kids.
We would also recommend the DuinoKit Jr as a packaged solution for schools and clubs.
Do expect to give kids a bit of help getting everything installed and ready to go before they complete their first mission.
Note that there's also a larger DuinoKit with more components which is suitable for more experienced teenagers and adults too.
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- angry birds
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- design thinking
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- drones
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- ebooks
- eco
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- edison
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- education
- egypt
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- electtronics
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- ereader
- ereaders
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- event
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- flutterbye fairy
- flying
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- 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
- humanoid
- ICT
- in app purchasing
- indiegogo
- industry event
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- ipad mini
- iphone
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- java
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- k'nex
- k'nex robotics
- kano
- keyboard
- kickstarter
- kids
- kindle
- kindle fire
- kit
- kits
- kodu
- kubo
- label printer
- languages
- laptop
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- last minute
- leap motion
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- learning resources
- learning tablet
- learning tablets
- leds
- lego
- lego boost
- lego chain reactions
- lego mindstorms ev3
- lego power functions
- lego technic
- lego wedo
- let's start coding
- lights
- 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
- micro:bit
- microbit
- microcontroller
- microscope
- microsoft
- middle school
- miles kelly
- mindstorms
- minecraft
- minecraft mods
- mixed reality
- mobile
- modular electronics
- monsters university
- morse code
- 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
- opinion
- origami
- osmo
- outdoors
- ouya
- ozobot
- papercraft
- paperwhite
- parental controls
- parenting
- parrot
- pc
- people
- pet tech
- pets
- phone
- photography
- photon
- physics
- pi day
- picks
- pimoroni
- pinoccio
- pixel kit
- pixelart
- play
- 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