Learning Counsel: App of the Week – KIBO
The Learning Counsel chose KIBO as the App of the Week!
About KIBO: the playful, creative screen-free STEAM coding robot for 4-7 year-olds
“KinderLab Robotics’ KIBO STEAM coding robot kit offers an innovative, screen-free way for children to learn to code. KIBO is more than a toy that can be shoehorned into the classroom; it’s an educational tool based on 20 years of child development research by Dr. Marina Bers and her team at Tufts University. KIBO empowers young learners, ages 4 to 7, to create, design, decorate and bring their own robot to life.
Children program their KIBO robot with “tangible code” made of wooden blocks that they arrange in sequence and then scan with the robot. This approach not only eliminates screen time but takes advantage of years of research into how physical manipulatives inspire young children to engage with abstract skills like coding. With KIBO, they engage in learning STEAM concepts through physical play and creative self-expression.
KIBO is designed to be extended and decorated with craft and other building materials, providing a platform for play, sturdy building, and the engineering design process. KinderLab’s curriculum guides provide activities in which students transform KIBO into imagined animals, vehicles, storybook characters, and more.
KIBO enables educators to teach computer science standards through creative coding, arts, and imaginative play.”
Check out the full listing here.
