TechHive: KinderLabs Robotics KIBO robot kit can help teach younger kids to code, no screens required

In this TechHive article, the writer reviews KIBO and shares his experience watching his daughter and her friends using KIBO.

The article reads in part:
Enter KinderLab and its nifty STEAM-oriented KIBO robot kits, which use motors, sensors, modules, scanners, and (most intriguing) building blocks to introduce young ones to coding, no screens required.

My seven-year-old daughter and her friends have been coding away with a KIBO kit for a couple of months, and they’re way into it, furiously rearranging the wooden coding blocks, snapping on sound and light sensors, and (gently) tossing ping pong balls with the help of a programmable, rubber band-powered throwing arm.

They also got a kick out of debugging their KIBO programs, figuring out why their sequences or conditionals weren’t working as expected. In short, they were quite clearly engaged, with their little brains firing on all eight cylinders. (Indeed, at least one friend ended up telling his dad that he absolutely, positively wanted his own KIBO kit.)

While the KinderLab Robotics KIBO robot kits are clearly an investment, they’re a bargain compared to cheaper but quickly abandoned coding toys that were “too boring,” or so my daughter told me. I’m also loving the fact that my kid is having too much fun with the KIBO to realize that she’s learning something. That’s a neat trick.

Read the full article.