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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.

Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set for STEM Learning Review


The Code & Go Robot Mouse activity set is an all inclusive kit for primary aged kids (ages 5 - 9) to learn basic coding concepts and develop logical thinking skills.

We've got some old-style BeeBots at home, and this Robot Mouse, known as Colby, is a great upgrade with a few extra features which we'll write about in this review. I'll draw a few comparisons with BeeBot as many schools already have them and may want to consider an upgrade!

Disclaimer: Learning Resources sent us a Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set to review. This is not a sponsored post and our views are always our own.

Unboxing



The Code & Go Robot Mouse activity set comes with 1 blue robot (mouse), 16 x green squares to make the board, purple plastic maze walls, orange bridges and a wedge of cheese. There's also lots of sequence cards and several double sided coding activity cards.

Unfortunately the box, as nicely packaged as it is, isn't suitable for storage. We've come up with a plan to keep your activity kit together and safely stored away when not in use.



Colby, the maze walls, sequence cards and cheese fits perfectly into a small IKEA storage box (GLIS with a lid) and then everything else, plus this little box fits into the IKEA SAMLA 11 transparent box with lid.


We're a little obsessed with keeping all our tech neatly stored away, ready for another time when kids want to play and learn.

Additional Robot Mouse



There's also a purple mouse, named Jack, which we love incidentally, but it's sold separately and you can't select an activity kit with a purple mouse! You'll get 30 more sequencing tiles with this programmable robot mouse. Why not have the option to choose one or the other in the kit? Does all robots have to be blue?

You can use two mice with one activity set, by either racing them or getting children to help each other's mouse out with coding. The mice won't interact with each other.

Getting Started


The Code & Go Kit doesn't require a tablet to work, and it needs 3 AAA batteries (rechargeables are fine), which aren't included. If your robot isn't quite making a 90 degree turn when left / right is pressed, it probably means you need new batteries.

The coding activity cards included, means you can start playing immediately by following the pictorial instructions. My 6 and 8 year old put Colby through its paces and really liked all the cute squeaky mouse sounds. Colby's eyes also flashes blue when he finds his cheese. Even our dog Ruby was fascinated by this cute little mouse.


Don't tell the kids - let them discover this. The cheese has a magnet inside and when Colby's nose touches it, he's activated to play a sound. My kids were very excited when they discovered this feature.

Code Colby, by pressing the buttons on his body in a specific sequence and then press the middle green button to get Colby to move. The yellow button cancels everything, and the red button is to code an "action", which is shown as a lightning strike on the activity cards.

It's a really good idea to get younger kids to use the sequencing cards to work out their code first and then programme it into Colby. It's easy to press the wrong button, which means you have to start from the beginning of the sequence again. Remember to press yellow to cancel!

Colby operates exactly like a BeeBot. The only difference is the action button and the reed switch in his nose, to play the sound when he touches the cheese.




The Maze


I really like the maze.  It's fantastic for developing spatial awareness and logical thinking skills. The maze can be built in a variety of ways using the 16 square tiles. If you look carefully, there is an easy and logical way to build, when you lay all the tiles in the same direction. It's a similar concept as Simbrix.

The boys enjoyed building the maze just as much, if not more, as programming the robot mouse. You can either follow the activity cards or design your own. Use the maze walls to create traps and dead-ends and bridges to guide Colby in a certain direction.


You don't have to only use Colby on the maze, the robot mouse can venture off on other floor types and homemade mazes - like the one we made for Ozobot. The robot mouse moves 12.5cm for every forward or backward movement - just in case you want to make your own!

Why get Colby if we already have BeeBot?


Well it, kinda depends what BeeBot you have. If you have an old style (yellow and black) BeeBot, you may enjoy an upgrade with Colby. There's a bit more you can do and the set comes with great resources.

If, however you have the newer Blue-Bot, Colby may feel similar. The Blue-Bot does however require a connection with a iOS or Andriod tablet to access its full functionality.

If you're looking for a screen-less introduction to coding concept for young kids - Code & Go Robot Mouse is a great option.

UPDATE 2018: Learning Resources launched a new coding robot called Botley - read our full review.

Verdict



This STEM kit and programmable robot is a brilliant choice for families looking for a screen-less toy that is educational and fun. Colby is endearing and can be used without the maze, which means a kid can code it anywhere (but maybe not outside in the dirt).

Colby also is a fab upgrade choice for schools, looking to replace old-style BeeBots.

Robot Mouse is recommended for ages 5-9, but we think it would be suitable for younger kids too. The basic coding concept are not far off from those learnt using Cubetto, which is recommended for ages 3+.

Also See:



24 days of Scratch coding book cover and cute penguin
Name

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Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children: Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set for STEM Learning Review
Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set for STEM Learning Review
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Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children
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