A simple robot that teaches coding and sequences for children as young as 3

• What’s in the Box?  the Bee-bot and a charging cord.We also ordered the sequential cards.
• How Much?   the website says $89.95 according to the website. The cards were another $24.95
• Age Range?  Ages 3 and up
• How Did We Acquire it?  Grant funds through ILEAD-USA
  

  How I used Bee-bots:

  I have used Bee-bot three different times.  I did some one-on-one time with a Kindergartner and her mother, with the Testers from this summer, and at the library’s renovation celebration. The first time, I taped a square on the carpet and my tester and I tried to get the Bee-bot in the box.  It was trial and error and we learned that Bee-bot doesn’t necessarily do right angles.  I also noted that she liked one sequence at a time, rather piling the commands on at a time.  When I showed it to theTesters they understood the concept right away. I attribute that to several things: they’re older (fifth grade through eighth grade) and they’ve been working with this sort of thing all summer. And, I don’t want to forget Robot Turtles.  It’s the same concept and having those same skills really helped.

For the library’s renovation celebration, I made a big flower. A really big flower…too big to laminate.  In hindsight, I’d rather have had it laminated than had it as big as it was.  I numbered a few petals and we gave each child who came to the STEM room a challenge, “from where it is now, can you get the Bee-bot to the number x?”  Some kids tried to pick it up and angle it. Some kids tried to do it one turn at a time.  Some kids tried to get it scooting faster.  I’d just back it up, or re-position it and work it through with them. I also had my testers volunteer that day and they were able to explain the idea when I was busy with other tasks.  It was a good day. I really like Bee-bots and think they’re a good fit for our library

Time Involved

Minimum, depending on whether you need to make huge flower or not. You could easily use Ellison dies on the ground. Get from one to the next.  Make a maze.

One-time or Recurring Program

Recurring. So many challenges.

Extension Activities

I didn’t find the activity cards very useful. One of my fellow ILEAD members discovered that one card length is the length of Bee-bot stride. It might give kids an understanding of how many times to press forward or backward. Also, they may come in handy for kids who like to plan.  I imagine, much like Robot Turtles, you could line up the cards and then program Bee-bot.  Winning is getting the robot where you wanted it the first time.  I’m not competitive like that…

Skills You Need

Understanding sequences. Remembering to clear the sequence when you want to start over

Other Tools You Need

whatever obstacles or challenges you choose to develop

Good Stuff

One young girl was so excited when she got Bee-bot to number 5 she yelled, “I did it!” Made my day.

Frustrations

Really young kids wanted to rush it along, I had to get her to put her hands on her hips to stop touching it after we pressed GO.

Ending Thoughts/Observations

This is a keeper

Overall Rating:

Sweeter than Honey.

create a STEM space: I don’t know what this means yet….robotics; digital media; creative, it could be as easy as a hands-on place to see Science at work. Maybe this would be just watching and graphing an avocado seed grow…

I haven’t read that in a while and I confess to be surprised by that particular verbage. Did I really use the word robotics? Where did I get that idea from?  I notice I capitalized science.  That was either a middle-of-the-night mistake or intentional–Science as a living breathing thing.

Looking at that document this week really surprised me.  Virtually everything we brainstormed happened.  We don’t have a digital media lab in our department, but we can use the one upstairs.   We created a STEM space and it debuted this weekend at our library’s renovation celebration.

The STEM Room. Just needs the console games installed.

The STEM room has a strategic plan and in writing it we developed a focus.

Our focus: The Children’s Services STEM room is designed to serve grade school children by providing them with opportunities to explore science, technology, engineering, math and other activities that might stimulate their curiosity supported by trained children’s services staff.

We’re using the room for console gaming.  On Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday we will have open gaming for school age kids through eighth grade.  On Thursday and Friday in the morning we will have hands-on activities for preschoolers. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons we  are turning off the TV and will have hands-on activities for school age kids.

Getting ready for the STEM room

We didn’t really know what we wanted to do.  We knew that we wanted to make the STEM room much more than a room for gaming.  And that was our challenge: As soon as after-school gaming starts, certain kids will want us to only have gaming. Our newly designed department has an iPad bar (part of that original brainstorming) and six no-hassle internet computers and three purchased Minecraft accounts we can log kids in to.  We have the gaming covered on non-gaming days. So our focus has to be to come up with things that a small, busy staff can handle.  Most of our activities won’t be able to have staff supervision.

Here are some of the ideas that I’ve proposed we purchased for use on a rotating basis:
→Beebots Basic coding for kids as young as three.
→Cubelets (Purchased.)
→Competition Cups.  We have one set and will be buying another with the timer.  I thought there would be one for learning and one for timing.  Kids can post their times on our mobile whiteboard.
→Keva Planks.  These and tinker toys would make for some great open ended activities.  One thing I’ve learned from Robot Test Kitchen is not every activity has to be planned to death. Open-ended discovery is both good and important.  The best mistakes in life are the ones that are discoveries.
→Kinetic Sands and molds.  Fun exploratory play.
→Magnets We purchased from Lakeshore learning.
→Snap Circuits.  I’m still on the fence about these. They’re so great, but we’ll need several sets of them in order to meet our needs.
→Squishy Circuits.  This is a kit purchased for ILEAD-USA. It’s been so well received at other libraries, I’m looking forward to doing it during preschool time.

Our STEM Room is a work in progress; an on-going experiment if you will.  I’m so excited that this space is here. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Yesterday on Twitter, my fellow robot enthusiast Sharon asked: “If you have a beebot, how are you using the cards? Feeling like they aren’t needed. Showing vs. doing, doing wins, right?” I responded, “I think you could use them to set up a route, point A to point B, if it advances one card-length.”

I didn’t want to leave it at “if,” so today I tested the Bee-Bot against the cards, and it does indeed advance one card-length. I’ve only used the Bee-Bot with the youngest of toddlers so far, and they truly do like pushing the buttons and watching things happen. As a way to keep them engaged a little longer, I’ve tried to get them to plan out Bee-Bot’s route, such as, “Have it move from here to knock down that stack of Legos” (appealing to their destructive tendencies). I think that’s when the cards become useful, as a tangible way to plot out a course and as a measuring tool for how far the Bee-Bot will advance.

• What is it?

Cubelets are a modular robotics teaching tool and toy from the aptly named Modular Robotics. Color coded, cube shaped pieces attach to one another with magnets, enabling the user to quickly and easily build a variety of robots.

Cubelets KT06

• What’s in the Box?

The KT06 kit contains 2 rechargeable batteries, several “recipe” cards, a battery charging setup, and the following 6 cubes:

2 action cubes: drive and light

2 sensing cubes: brightness and distance

2 thinking cubes: power and passive

• How Much?

This kit retails for $159.95

• Age Range?

Cubelets are recommended for ages 4 and up. I had success engaging kids as young as four and as old as 8th grade, though the length of engagement varies.

• How Did We Acquire it?

We purchased it at full price with funds from our ILEAD USA grant. (Per their website, Modular Robotics does not offer discounts to educators or other groups.)

Ideas for Use

This set of Cubelets is a great tool for teaching the basic concepts of robotics to individuals or small groups. Specifically, this tool helps explain that a robot is a device that senses something and then responds to it in a pre-programmed way. It also demonstrates the specificity required in robotics: placement and orientation of the cubes matters, and the creation will act differently based on the arrangement of the pieces.

Time Involved

Charge up the batteries for a few hours and you’re good to go. There’s no additional prep time needed.

One-time or Recurring Program

While younger kids could have fun with Cubelets a number of times, the kit we purchased is limited in scope, so I wouldn’t count on engaging the same group with the same six cubes more that a few times. There’s little opportunity to build on the concepts presented without investing in more cubes.

That said, the cubes are extremely durable and nicely sized for small hands. In this way, they could be a standard introductory activity for any program that aims to build on these concepts. Also, they are just plain fun! Because they go together so quickly with such obvious visual results, they engage users young and old from the get-go. I took them to entice folks to visit the library’s table at the middle school registration night, and I had everyone from preschool aged siblings to “been there, done that” incoming 8th graders, to curious parents stopping by to make a Fraidy-Bot that runs away from you, or the inverse: a robot that follows your hand. There is a really appealing immediate gratification factor with Cubelets.

Extension Activities

This is a great tool to use as part of the explanatory process of a more complex robotics unit. There is a lot of potential for extension with the Cubelets themselves, but there are costs associated with them.

For an additional $14.95 we could purchase a brick adaptor, which would allow the Cubelets to be used with LEGO. For an additional $48.95 we could purchase a Bluetooth 2.0 cube, which would allow the Cubelets to interface with iOs or Android devices. For a lot more money, you could buy individual cubes that do all kinds of things, or an educator pack of multiple cubes to use in a larger group.

Skills You Need

None, really.

Other Tools You Need

A flathead screwdriver. I hear that newer versions of Cubelets include a redesigned battery compartment lid. In the version that I used, the screw holding the lid on was maddeningly shaped, small and shallow. I ended up needing to use a paint scraper because none of the screwdrivers in our amply stocked home toolchest were working and I feared stripping the screw.

Good Stuff

This is excellent for beginners or librarians who are leery of delving into robotics because it seems intimidating. There is nothing intimidating about Cubelets (now that they’ve fixed a poorly designed battery compartment) because nothing is permanent, nothing is fragile, everything you do is going to result in some action you can talk about, and the immediate gratification of the tool is really fun.

Frustrations

See above for my main frustration: the stupid battery compartment (which, as I said, has been remedied in newer releases).

Ultimately though, my frustration comes in the price. It’s a fairly pricy device with fairly limited implementation. Six cubes , which includes just one power cube, means that it’s really only a usable device for demonstration purposes or very small groups — I would say no more than two young kids or three older ones who can sit on their hands and be a little more patient while waiting their turn.  Additional cubes can be purchased, but it’s a pretty hefty investment for a teaching device in a library setting.

Ending Thoughts/Observations

I’m glad I had a chance to use the Cubelets. I think the kids and teens who got to play with them really enjoyed them too. The price, as I said, is high for a tool that you might hope to use on an ongoing basis. However, it’s a pretty reasonable investment if you work in a setting while you might want to repeatedly introduce basic robotics concepts to a wide age range. My teen program doesn’t really work this way — I have a smallish club type group. For these kids, Cubelets was really a one shot program. If you have the funds, it’s a wonderfully simple way to explore. If you have a medium to large group and limited funds, it’s not my top pick.

Overall Rating:

Results may vary

Robot Basics: Sphero 2.0

What is it? (from the website)

• What’s in the Box?

One Sphero 2.0 ball with base, 2 inclines, and ball holder.

• How Much?

129.99 (the app is free)

• Age Range?

Grades 1 and up.  I did the program with Middle School kids.

• How Did We Acquire it?

We purchased it using the ILEAD USA grant money.

Ideas for Use

Bring it out in the Library to whirl around. It will certainly get the kids’ attention.  All ages were interested in playing with it while I was on the reference desk.  The older kids liked to build obstacle courses for the Sphero and try to achieve some of the tricks by leveling up.

Time Involved

You need to download the app for your iPad before you begin.  Play around with it a little bit before giving it to kids.  It can be touchy, so you want to get a handle on the speed.

One-time or Recurring Program

We did a one-time program, however I could see it being used for another program focused only on Sphero.  The kids play together nicely with it, giving each other turns, creating obstacle courses and instructing each other on how to use the toy.

Extension Activities

According to the website and the Sphero packaging, you can use this product with video games and lots of other apps.  We did not go that far into programming with Sphero.

Skills You Need

You should know how to work an iPad and how to download apps. Other than that, it’s pretty easy to use.

Other Tools You Need

You’ll need the Sphero apps. There are over 30 apps available for the Sphero.

Good Stuff

This is easy enough for the kids to figure out.  They were thrilled at all the different capabilities of the Sphero.  They loved running the Sphero into their friends.

Frustrations

We didn’t have enough for anyone, and the kids were disappointed about that.

Ending Thoughts/Observations

I’d like to work with Sphero 2.0 more to see what other games and activities we could do with it.  The basics were entertaining and I can only imagine how much more fun there is to have with the other Sphero apps and games.

Overall Rating:

This is a good investment.  I would buy more.

Robot Basics

• What is it?

From the user guide, “Bee-Bot is an award-winning programmable floor robot with a simple, child-friendly layout which is a perfect starting point for teaching control, directional language and programming to young children.”

• What’s in the Box?

The Bee-Bot includes, the Bee-but, a USB charging cable, a set of command cards, and user guide.

• How Much?

Bee-Bot sells for $89.95 and has a variety of accessories you can purchase. There are also classroom sets. Visit http://www.bee-bot.us/ for more information.

• Age Range?

Toddler and up.

• How Did We Acquire it?

ILEAD Grant funds.

Ideas for Use

Bee-bot is very accessible for younger kids. The robot is incredibly child friendly and also very approachable. We used it along with Tiggly Shapes for a Toddler Try-It session, which is for kids between 2 and 3 years old. I can see using this little guy in a variety of ways. You could build a storytime like program around some coding concepts like sequencing, loop, and if/then that includes Bee-Bot. I also think if you have a play space in your library you could have Bee-Bot available for general use. Or if your library circulates kits at all, Bee-Bot would be an excellent addition.

Time Involved

Bee-bot was easy. Everything you need comes with it. I didn’t use the cards at all. But if you wanted to create more elaborate programs, you might spend some time organizing the cards. Otherwise, I can’t see spending a ton of time needing to prep Bee-Bot.

One-time or Recurring Program

I think you could do either. I plan on using Bee-Bot sporadically throughout the year.

Skills Needed

Can you push buttons? Then you are good to go.

Good Stuff

Bee-Bot was awesome. The kids loved him. I made sure that every child who wanted to give Bee-Bot a whirl had a chance. They were really amazed that they had the ability to “touch” a robot and could even tell him what to do. I completely let the kids decide how they wanted the Bee-Bot to move. I did have to tell them what the different symbols meant. I often was saying, “press a few orange buttons, then press the green one so we can see what he will do.” I’m not sure they understood the concept of directionality yet, but they certainly got the if/then concept. They very much recognized that if they pressed the orange button and then the green one, the robot would react.

Frustrations

I’m not sure I get the cards. I can see how they would be helpful in a classroom setting and for older kids. But they really were not needed for my age group.

Ending Thoughts/Observations

This was a fun way to learn. I really like when kids can do things hands on. I myself am a hands-on learner, so I completely get the need. I am working on creating more ways for kids to experience tactile learning during library programs, and Bee-Bot really is a great little tool. I’m excited to use it more and share it with coworkers. I loved Bee-Bot! When you often work with the younger set it is sometimes challenging to think of ways to build programs around coding concepts, it does not always feel like you have the resources you need. Bee-bot is a wonderful tool and incredibly approachable for those who are not sure where to start.

Overall Rating

Super awesome!

• What is it?  Robot Turtles is a board game that teaches programming
• What’s in the Box?  game board, 2-d turtles (4), gems tiles (4), bugs tiles(4), game card decks (4), and three kinds of obstacle cards: ice walls, crates, and stone walls
• How much?  $24.95  Robot Turtles Website
• Age Range?  Ages four and up
• How we acquired it:  Robot Turtles and ThinkFun.com sent us a reviewing copy of the game

What’s the point?

The object of Robot Turtles is for each player to find their turtle’s gem.  It’s not about who gets their first, it’s about the journey. The player is selecting cards that will create the path the turtle takes to get to the gem.

Ideas for use:

• time involved: the most time consuming part of this game is reading the instructions and setting up the mazes. We had three or four rounds in 30 minutes
• extension activities:
• one-time or recurring program: I can see kids and families playing this game over and over.
• skills you need: basic understanding of right and left
• other tools you need:  vocal sounds, no kidding.  The instructions state implicitly that adults make noises while moving the turtle on the board.

Good stuff:

I played Robot Turtles with a few different groups. As soon as the box came in the mail, I played it with two librarian friends. Then I played it with a four year old (T), and two entering-first graders (J1 and J2) and their parents.  (J2 and T are sisters.) I then played Robot Turtles with J1’s 14 year old brother, IM.  IM has been introduced to Scratch. He’s familiar with programming and games.  He was just as interested in the game as the younger crowd, but in a different way.  We switched it up.  We played the game one card at a time.  We played the game by stringing the cards out and then following the sequences while the other person watched.  Then, we created the sequence while the other person played.  That’s where the good stuff happened.  I made mistakes, IM made mistakes.  But we were able to to talk it out.

We created complicated boards with obstacles.  Speaking of obstacles, the younger group was very interested in obstacles. They wanted to play with them as well.  They were very interested in playing Robot Turtles just like older kids would.  After I introduced the different cards (left, right, straight, and the laser), I shared the ice castle obstacle.  T’s mom asked how we would be able to get rid of that obstacle, and she pointed to the laser.  Intuitive.

The best of the good stuff: how do you know to turn right or left if you don’t have the developmental ability? The makers of Robot Turtle have that covered.  You’ll notice that Gold Turtle is surround by flowers: Blue flowers straight ahead, yellow flower on one side, and purple flower on the other.  The directional cards correspond to the flowers.  If you’re going left, pick a yellow card. Straight? Select the blue card.  Right, pick the purple card.

Let the record show, I didn’t notice this.  Someone playing did.  I can’t remember if a kid or a mom noticed, but it’s an excellent way to help get passed a developmental stage and still play the game.

More pictures:

Frustrations

The game requests that you make noises as the turtle moves through the game.  I failed miserably at it.  It’s something the kids should make their parents do.  It’s fun and another way to show direction if left makes one noise, right and straight others.  And listening to the laser zap something is always satisfying.

With the younger crowd, playing three games in a row, was too much.  They wanted to do other things at the library.

Ending Thoughts/Observations

I took this home to play with my husband. I call him Mr. IT. He’s a mainframe software developer with over 35 years experience.  His thoughts are here.

Rating:

Whiz Bang Whirl…this is a keeper!

Squishy Circuits Kit

While not technically a robot, this is a good project to begin explorations. It helps participants understand some critical basic concepts about electronics: conductivity, resistance, that kind of thing. It is inexpensive, and works well with a surprisingly wide age range.  The TED Talk below the jump explains it in about 4 minutes.

Robot Basics:

• Squishy Circuits 

• How did we get it?

  • This review focuses on the concept rather than the product itself. I used wire and LEDs that I had at home and purchased batteries with my own money.

• What’s in the Box?

  • 1 – Recipe Card
  • 1 – Motor
  • 1 – Piezoelectric Buzzer
  • 1 – Mechanical Buzzer
  • 1 – 4 AA Battery Pack (batteries not included)
  • 25 – LEDs in Red, Green, White, Yellow and Blue.

If you want to avoid the kit and DIY, the items can be purchased piecemeal at a Radio Shack or other similar stores.

• 6V lantern battery
• copper wire
• LEDs

• How much?

  • $25 for the kit
  • Additional $10 to buy simple grocery store ingredients for dough, though you likely have them on hand already

• Age Range?

  • I’ve run this program with kids as young as 4 and as old as 13. All found it fun and engaging, but the attention spans, interest levels, and the level at which we could discuss the concepts varied.

Using the multimeter and squishy circuit skills

Ideas for use

• time involved

Making the dough will take some time, possibly time at home if your library doesn’t have kitchen facilities as the conductive dough needs to be cooked on a stovetop. It’s not very time consuming, but plan for an hour of your time at home to do this, just to be on the safe side.

Setup is fairly minimal once at the program site.

This program could work in a variety of time frames – everything from being availible on a table as a self-directed program, or with more staff involvement as a traditional one hour program.

• one-time or recurring program

  • Either; if recurring, you could step through the many different activities included, or segue into more complex electronics and robotics programs.

• extension activities

• skills you need

  • none

• other tools you need

  • pot, stovetop, bowl, spoons, food coloring, flour, salt, sugar, cream of tartar for cooked dough and plastic bags to store them in. Table covers for program area. A multimeter is a fun extra tool to have and can be gotten cheaply.

Good stuff

This is a simple, inexpensive, flexible, easy to understand project.

Frustrations

Honestly, none.

Ending Thoughts/Observations

I would highly encourage libraries to try this out. When I tested it with three middle school boys, I was pleasantly surprised to see that each of them explored the material in his own way, focusing on different capabilities of the kit. One built a battery, one took advantage of the “squishy” aspect and built an elaborate electrified dough contraption, and the third mainly explored the multimeter. In the end, each of them helped the other with his chosen project using the skills he learned in his own explorations. It was library magic!

Overall Rating: