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Bloxel Builders

Programs, Reviews

Basics:

  • What is it? Bloxels is a “hands-on platform for kids to build, collaborate, and tell stories through video game creation.”
  • What’s bloxel whats in the boxin the Box?  a black gameboard (13 x 13 grid) with a variety of small colorful cubes.  An idea booklet was purchases separately. (It looks like they’ve restructured things since we bought our Bloxels… the guidebook looks like it is now included.)
  • How Much?  $49.95 plus the free app for “Apple, Android & Kindle phones and tablets.”
  • Age Range?  box says ages 8 and up.  I agree. I think younger kids could use it, but the ability for the game to tell a story requires developmental skills younger kids don’t always possess.
  • How Did We Acquire it?  Library purchase after Bloxels blew up my Twitter and Facebook feeds this Spring after the NY Toy show. Ultimately the library bought 12 Bloxel boxes.

    Ideas for Use

This summer (July 2016) we had a Bloxels Club, a four week program where we all learned to use Bloxels.  I had this great idea that kids would create boards and share them with the other participants in the Club.  A few took advantage of this, but mostly they wanted to make their games and play.

We are continuing Bloxel Clubs this fall.  We’re having Bloxels 101, which is a registered program.  The Bloxel Club won’t be registered.  We have a dozen boxes to use.

Time Involved

We learned together.  Okay, I watched some of the tutorials before the club, and tried things out, but mostly watching the tutorials is all you need.  Then, be prepared to spend lots of time creating your story / game. If you lack time, hire a tutor or a personal assistant to be able to say: "I can do my math in no time". The reps of the best essay writing websites are at your service 24/7.

One-time or Recurring Program

I would say recurring. Bloxels has updated their app and the Bloxel board is needed to advance your game. There are other ways to advance your games like ordering from Best Programming Homework Help Websites for You to Choose.  Kids are going to want to use the board.

 Extension Activities

All the elements needed for the game are included in the app.  Follow the tutorials and build your game with characters, animation, and options for enemies (purple blocks).  The ideas are limited to your imagination.

Skills You Need

Well, I’m not much of a game player.  So I needed to get some gaming chops….like jumping. I’m a lousy jumper.

Creativity.  The ability to tell a story.

Other Tools You Need

  • A working device (iOS or Android) and free app.

Bloxels has a lot of education tools. When in need of math homework help Mathagogy.com is the best option. For anything, we're here to make the process of learning more engaging.  Since I’m not a teacher and my purpose in using Bloxels is informal education, I glanced at the materials but created my own worksheet.  It was a brainstorming document that I hoped would help kids create stories in their games. If my theme is underwater, what do the bad guys look like? (Sharks, crabs, octopi).  What would powerups (pink) look like? (oysters with pearls)

Also, you need a light colored table for using the camera on the Bloxel board.

Good Stuff

The animation builder is fascinating. Once again, the tutorial is great.  My game was underwater, so I needed some underwater bad guys. My octopus couldn’t really move back and forth because I used all thirteen columns.  So I changed the colors of the octopus arms.  If you look in the lower left hand corner, it looks like the octopus is moving!  Crabby actually is moving.  I did that!

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Frustrations

The only frustrations we experienced were with devices.  The program was advertised that kids had to come to the program with a working device with the app pre-installed.  Since kids tend to get their parents castoff devices, a few of them weren’t working.

Everything Bloxel related was great.

Ending Thoughts/Observations

I love Bloxels.  I like the creativity involved. Game creation with an informal coding language (color blocks) is a great activity for all ages.

Overall Rating: Bloxels is great. Highly recommended!

Here’s a few screenshots of my game:

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I just had to tackle DIY bouncy balls

Programs

Here at Robot Test Kitchen, we’re big proponents of learning from failure. Sometimes I take it a step further and see a fail as a challenge, and that was the case with DIY Bouncy Balls. After reading Heather’s post and seeing that picture of cup full of multicolored goo, I knew it was something I would eventually try, and I finally got around to it this week. I knew it would be a challenge, and I started by googling “DIY Bouncy Ball Fail” and read through a few of the results before coming up with my hypothesis — it all hinges on finding the right amount of cornstarch. I experimented with several batches before coming up with the best proportions and technique. This is not a difficult project, but it is tricky to get it to work, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it this effectively if so many people hadn’t graciously and/or humorously shared their struggles (Thank you, Heather!).

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Did I have any difficulties? You bet. I capped the program registration at 16, but I ended up with 25 (I had enough supplies on hand, but it took a lot more running around —  a couple of amazing parents pitched in to help out). I left the bouncy balls I made the day before the program out on a shelf and that’s how I learned you really need to keep them in a ziploc baggie or they’ll harden; my program attendees just had to take my word that the colorful rocks I showed them had been bouncy the previous day. And of course, as any youth librarian who has ever presented children with cornstarch, Borax, glue and food coloring knows, there was a lot of cleanup involved.

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Ball 1 ended up being the bounciest; by reducing the cornstarch in attempts 2-3, they didn’t retain their structure. Ball 4 was the most pleasantly round yet still bouncy.

So here’s my recipe:

  1. In the first cup, combine 1/2 teaspoon Borax with 1 Tablespoon VERY WARM water. Stir well.
  2. In the second cup, combine 1 Tablespoon glue, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, and a few drops of food coloring. Stir well.
  3. Pour the water/Borax solution into the glue/cornstarch solution and stir; it will quickly form into a nice glob.
  4. Remove the glob from the cup, shake off excess water, and roll it into a ball between your hands. It helps to blot the ball and your hands with a paper towel.
  5. Once it’s rolled and blotted enough, it should bounce quite well. Manage your expectations though — this is all about learning and creating, and the ball will not be the same as the kind you get in a vending machine for a quarter.
  6. Store it in a ziploc baggie.

Overall, it was definitely worth the mess.

Have You Updated Your Cubelets OS?

Cubelets, tips and tricks

Recently Modular Robotics, the maker of Cubelets, updated their Cubelets operating system (OS4).  If you are planning on buying any new Cubelets, you’ll want to update your old Cubelets so they can talk to each other. You need a bluetooth cube to do this.

Last week, I needed to buy more batteries.  It’s been my experience you can’t have enough batteries or Cubelet Drive cubes (the ones with wheels).  So I ordered more. They asked if I wanted to updated cubes. Did I want my Cubelets to respond faster? You bet.

There is a great video that explains how easy it is to update these cubes.

Last Friday, I did just that. I downloaded the Cubelet app and followed the tutorial; first updating my bluetooth cube.  There was a hiccup or two.  I was slightly impatient with the process — I started it late on a Friday afternoon, and I was on desk.  Not the smartest move on my part.  But I handed it off to a co-worker who cruised through the process.  Here are a few screen shots of what it looked like for me.

 

The countdown to my speaker cubelet being updated.

The countdown to my speaker cubelet being updated.

The last step of the update with clear easy instructions.

The last step of the update with clear easy instructions.

Easy, clear instructions made this update go smoothly. We have a considerable collection of Cubelets, and they were done in under four hours. Also, we have both kinds of battery Cubelets (the ones with rechargeable batteries and the USB batteries).  Both battery Cubelets updated without any problems.