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.
Robotic toys and gadgets are great for kids, but they can be expensive. In most cases you require a tablet to operate robotic toys, again adding to the cost of owning tech toys.
We bought Dot and Dash from Wonder Workshop for the kids last year, and discovered our old iPad 2 didn't work as the robots require the newer BLE technology to connect with the tablet. We had a Amazon Fire, and although at the time, it wasn't one of the supported devices recommended by Wonder Workshop, we discovered it worked really well.
Wonder Workshop has now made their apps for Dash and Dot available on Amazon (released on 22 February 2016), perhaps because we requested it. :) We'd like to think so.
- Also See: Dash & Dot Review | Kids Robot Buying Guide
Why we use a cheaper tablet?
Tech is expensive, and it's important that children learn to look after tablets, robots, electronics and other tech. We, for example, have a rule in the house, no food around tech and wash your hands before you use it.
The Amazon Fire is a cheap tablet, packed with lots of functionality, perfect for young kids. I'd much rather my kid accidentally drop a $50 tablet than a $500 one.
Using a cheaper tablet gives you peace of mind, when your young child uses it. You'd probably also feel more comfortable taking an Amazon Fire to the park to try out your Ollie or Parrot drone, or sending it to school for a robotic show-and-tell.
My 5 year old recently took Dot and Dash into school to show his class, and we ended up sharing the Amazon Fire tablet around, so others could have a go. I probably wouldn't have allowed the same usage with an expensive iPad.
Currently Dash and Dot together with the Amazon Fire, live out of their box, ready for my kids to play. They confidently operate the robots with the tablet and include them in their normal play. I feel quite comfortable for them to use the tech without constant supervision for fear something might break.
How does the Amazon Fire stack up?
The Amazon Fire 7" HD is, in fact, a great size for small hands. Especially as kids like to move around, it's easy to carry and hold. We've got a protective cover on the Fire, which we'd always recommend when kids use tablets.
Now that Wonder Workshop's apps are on Amazon, it's very easy to download and start playing with your robots.
As the apps weren't available on Amazon prior to the 22nd of February, we sideloaded the apps from the Playstore. They worked fine at the time. When I installed the Amazon apps, I had to uninstall the Playstore ones, so Dash could update properly. After a couple restarts and switching the Bluetooth on and off, we were ready to play.
UPDATE: All the Wonder Workshop Apps for Dash and Dot robots are available in the Amazon Appstore.
- Which Amazon Fire? Amazon Fire Basic v. Amazon Fire Kids Edition
The screen size is slightly small, but for a young child, who will not have copious blocks of code in the Blockly app, it is great. I would say the benefit of a smaller tablet in small hands, outweighs the need for a larger screen. Of course, when you kids are older and they code more complicated programmes for Dash and Dot, it may be worth considering a larger screen-size tablet. (But you can always use the cheaper tablet for out-and-about activities.)
Which App First?
There are 4 different free apps for Dash and Dot on Amazon (US) (UK).
Not all of them work with both robots, for example, "Xylo" is a stand-alone app and only works with Dash using its xylophone attachment. A previous "Go" app (which actually makes it 5 apps on iOS and Andriod) is not available on Amazon, however, it's functionality is found in the "Wonder for Dash and Dot" app.
We'd recommend starting with the Wonder app to get to grips with the functionality of the robots. This app also has a remote control feature, which allows you to drive the robots, change colours and play sounds, without any programming.
The Path app is aimed at much younger kids, we'd say as young as 3 could use this app with some parental support. It's all about learning to sequence.
Once you understand what your robots are capable of, move on to Blockly, where the real programming happens. Here you can also code your accessories, which currently includes the launcher. Blockly is a block-based programming platform, much like Scratch, and allows kids to drag and drop blocks to make their program.
- What is Scratch? Read the Parent's Guide to Scratch
Our Verdict
The Amazon Fire is a fantastic tablet to use with Dash and Dot, even more so now they have Amazon apps. If you're thinking this may be a solution for your family, read this comparison between the Amazon Fire Basic and Kids Edition. We would say, a larger screen size would be better, but if the budget is tight, we recommend the Amazon Fire.
It's always a good idea to use a protective cover with kids using tablets. We bought a comfort grip bumper case, which is simple and easy to hold. Young kids find portfolio type covers tricky to handle, especially if they want to move around with the tablet and use the camera.
NuPro Comfort Grip Fire Bumper Case is available in a variety of colours: USA
| UK
It's always a good idea to use a protective cover with kids using tablets. We bought a comfort grip bumper case, which is simple and easy to hold. Young kids find portfolio type covers tricky to handle, especially if they want to move around with the tablet and use the camera.
NuPro Comfort Grip Fire Bumper Case is available in a variety of colours: USA
| UK
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- kit
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- kodu
- kubo
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- machines
- magnetic
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- makedo
- maker
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- mars rover
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- meccanoid 2.0
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- microcontroller
- microscope
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- motors
- mover kit
- movie
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- mu
- mu toys
- munzee
- music
- my first robot
- national dog day
- nature
- new
- new year
- news
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- nikola tesla
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- ohbot
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- pets
- phone
- photography
- photon
- physics
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- pimoroni
- pinoccio
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- 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
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- wii u
- windows 8
- wonder workshop
- wowwee
- writing
- writing. education
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- xyzprinting