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.

Mover Kit: Screen Time Activity Reminder Project


Do your kids get absorbed in their devices for long periods and forget about everything else? It's a good idea to encourage them to take regular breaks. You could try nagging, or your could try making an activity timer with the Tech Will Save Us Mover Kit. We've gone for the second approach, it's less painful for everyone and the kids develop some useful tech skills and an insight into designing a useful gadget.

What is the Mover Kit?

The Mover Kit from Tech Will Save Us is a programmable wearable device that kids can program themselves from a web browser. It's really easy to get started with so it's a great choice for families who are a little nervous about diving into tech. (It's also a fab quick and easy gadget for more experienced families.)

The Mover Kit has a ring of 8 lights which can be set to any colour. It can also detect movement.

Screen Time 

When kids are using a screen it's really easy for them to lose track of time and spend too long in a single sitting. We're happy for our kids to play Minecraft or Scrap Mechanic for fairly long stretches, but it's important to take regular breaks. 

When using a device (tablet, laptop, phone, console, etc) it's a good idea for kids to get up and have a stretch and move around at regular intervals and also to focus on something far away for a while by looking out of a window. 

This is a good idea for adults too so it's worth getting kids into good habits and joining them. Make it clear to kids that taking a break from their devices isn't a punishment, it's about balance and forming good habits.


The Activity Reminder

We've programmed the Mover Kit to remind our kids to take a regular break. It waits for a specified number of seconds has passed and then puts on a rather distracting light show until the child turns it over. Ideally, place the Mover Kit where the child can see it, but will have to get up in order to stop the flashing lights by turning the Mover Kit face down.

We'll share the code that we used, but the best way to complete this project is to customise it to suit your kids - they can choose their own reminder light show and a reward light show when they get up and turn the Mover over.

The Mover Kit also has a built in activity app. For a bit more activity kids could switch to this (cycle through the apps by pressing the button on top of the Mover) and move around to trigger different light patterns before returning to the activity reminder.


The Code

Here's some code to get you started with the idea. We suggest you set a small time delay like 30 seconds to start with so that you can test your activity timer.



The lights go green for 1 second at the start of each cycle so that you can tell that the app is running. 

You could set kids the challenge of making a really distracting reminder light show that they won't be able to ignore, and making a cool light show as their reward for getting up and moving around. 

Mover Kit: Screen Time Activity Reminder

The Mover Kit
This project uses tech to solve a problem with kids current use of technology. This is often more effective that just nagging kids to do the right thing or moaning when they've spent two hours straight staring into a device. Lots of things that kids do on their devices are very absorbing, they do need a bit of help to put good habits in place.

BuyMover Kit from Tech Will Save Us (UK with international shipping)


24 days of Scratch coding book cover and cute penguin
Name

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Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children: Mover Kit: Screen Time Activity Reminder Project
Mover Kit: Screen Time Activity Reminder Project
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Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children
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