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.
Brixo is a LEGO-compatible electronics kit with conductive blocks, lights, motors and sensors. The chrome-coated LEGO compatible bricks mean that you can add controllable lights and motors to projects without needing wires.
We backed the Brixo Kickstarter and recently received our Brixo Standard kit.
Unboxing
Brixo comes in a cardboard box with an additional cardboard sleeve. The kit is nicely presented with a fun insert. The box takes up quite a bit of space relative to the contents and the cardboard won't last for long-term storage if it's used regularly.We got the standard kit which includes:
- Action blocks: 2 light bricks and a motor brick
- Trigger blocks: Proximity (reed switch), sound and light
- Battery/power block - USB or 9V battery (not rechargeable)
- Awesome magnetic robot head which can be placed on a LEGO figure
- Lots of connector blocks
Getting Started
You can power Brixo via a micro USB cable or use a 9V battery in the battery box. It's great to be able to power from USB when you don't need portability. Very practical.
The main Brixo unit is quite big and so is the motor so this kit needs to be used to add features to fairly large models.
We found the way that the blocks connect together electrically to be quite non-intuitive at first. Some ways around the blocks conduct and other ways they don't even if they're next to each other. It feels odd to place blocks next to each other and not create a short circuit (you do get used to it though.)
We kept finding that we had one block gaps in our circuits and there are no blocks with odd sizes!
But once we'd figured out how to make a circuit everything worked well. We like that you get a pair of crocodile clips that can be used to troubleshoot circuits.
The Sensors
Sensors make circuits interesting. We really like the choice of sensors and the way they work. I wish the text on them was a bit bigger though!
The proximity sensor is a reed switch which is triggered by the awesome magnetic robot head which is included in the set.
The sound sensor behaves like a toggle. One clap closes the switch and the next clap opens it.
The light sensor turns off when it detects light and on when it's dark. To turn it off, shine a torch on it.
It's worth noting that the sound and light sensors have small rapidly flashing lights which may be a problem for some users. (Like me with my migraines triggered by flashing lights.)
Connectivity
The connectivity seems pretty good. The blocks make a great connection vertically. We could stack up all the blocks we had and light a block at the top without a problem.
We could also create a big horizontal circuit on a large LEGO board. I expected this to fail as the board isn't very flat but it worked just fine, even with an active sound sensor in the circuit.
Short Circuits
Short circuits are pretty inevitable when working with Brixo. Luckily the power supply is protected and a short circuit is indicated with a red light. You can press the button to reset the unit.
The App
There's a Brixo app that offers building guides and suggestions. This is great. We much prefer content that we can view on a device to have printed material.
Bluetooth control of the power supply isn't supported yet but is promised.
Building Experience
My 10 year old soon devised an intruder-activated weapon (of course he did ...) The motor is compatible with LEGO axles so you can quickly create stuff that spins.
A button on the power box flips the polarity of the circuit so you can spin the motor in the other direction. The light bricks have two LEDs so that they work in either direction (LEDs are diodes - they only work one way around.)
Some bricks are hard to remove from the board so a brick removal tool is handy to have around.
You get lots of conductive bricks so there's plenty of scope for getting power to where you need it in a model. You definitely need to construct a circuit first and then build around it to make sure you can create a valid circuit.
My kids really wanted a linear actuator component so that they can easily create sliding doors and trapdoors. Servos with LEGO attachments would be fun too.
Crowdfunding Experience
Brixo was delayed quite a bit from its original dates, but we pretty much assume this will happen! Electronics Kickstarters often underestimate the amount of time it will take to address manufacturing issues and get through any certifications required.
We've said it before and we'll say it again, don't crowdfund a project expecting it to be the main birthday or Christmas gift for your child.
Brixo wrote regular updates on how the project was going and for us following along is part of the experience.
Verdict
Well, Brixo works. It does what it says. It's a fun way to introduce LEGO-mad kids to the basics of electronic circuits.
The chrome-covered blocks look very cool and are easy to integrate into LEGO models with a bit of planning. The way they connect (and don't) is a bit confusing at first. We've found that there's a ton of logical thinking involved in designing a circuit that puts the action and trigger blocks where you want them. This is either frustrating or a learning opportunity depending on your perspective! We've gone for the latter.
The range of components is pretty limited at the moment but there's quite a lot you can do with sensors, lights, and motors. The trigger bricks just work. The ability to easily reverse polarity and having the sound trigger work as a toggle are great features.
There was definitely potential for a product like this to have connectivity problems but we've found that it works well if you stick to the building rules.
You can currently pre-order Brixo kits via Indiegogo.
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/fa-dice/ RANDOM$type=blogging$m=0$cate=0$sn=0$rm=0$c=3$va=0$src=random-posts
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- advent calendar
- adventure games
- amazon
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- android
- angry birds
- animation
- anki
- app
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- architecture
- arckit
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- art
- artificial intelligence
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- astronomy
- augmented reality
- automaton
- awards
- battle bots
- battling robots
- bedtime
- big kids
- big tablets
- bigtrak
- bike
- binary
- birthday
- bitsbox
- black friday
- blockly
- blogging
- bloxels
- bluetooth
- board games
- book
- books
- boolean box
- breadboard
- bricks
- brixo
- buying guide
- camera
- cameras
- card game
- careers
- catroid
- celebration
- cellphone
- ces
- chemistry
- chess
- christmas
- circuit cubes
- circuit playground
- circuit scribe
- cleaning
- climbing
- code clubs
- code-a-pillar
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- competition/challenges
- computational thinking
- computer
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- computers
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- conductive playdough
- connected toys
- construction
- conversational ai
- cozmo
- craft
- craft cutter
- creative thinking
- creativity
- crochet
- crowdfunding
- css
- cubs
- curiosity
- curious chip
- cyber monday
- dads
- data
- deals
- dens
- design
- design process
- design thinking
- digital parenting
- digital skills
- disability
- disney infinity
- dog tech
- dolls
- drawing
- drones
- duinokit
- earth day
- Easter
- ebooks
- eco
- edblocks
- edison
- edtech
- education
- egypt
- electricity
- electronic pets
- electronic toys
- electronics
- electronics kit
- electronics kits
- electtronics
- elementary
- elenco
- energy
- engineering
- entertainment
- ereader
- ereaders
- esafety
- escape the room
- event
- ewriter
- exercise
- family
- family tech
- fathers day
- Festival of Code
- fiction
- fire
- fitbit
- fitness
- fitness tracker
- flotilla
- flow charts
- flutterbye fairy
- flying
- force awakens
- force friday
- future
- gadgets
- games
- 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
- humanoid
- ICT
- in app purchasing
- indiegogo
- industry event
- innotab
- innotab 3
- innotab 3s
- internet access
- interviews
- invention
- ios
- IoT
- ipad
- ipad mini
- iphone
- jacquard
- japan
- java
- javascript
- k'nex
- k'nex robotics
- kano
- keyboard
- kickstarter
- kids
- kindle
- kindle fire
- kit
- kits
- kodu
- kubo
- label printer
- languages
- laptop
- laptops
- last minute
- leap motion
- leapfrog
- leappad
- leappad 2
- leappad ultra
- leappad2
- leapreader
- learning
- 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