13 Jun
image of girl courtesy of apdk on Flickr
Google Breadcrumb is an interesting Google Labs application designed specifically for mobile devices. The best things about Google Breadcrumb is that it is free, easy, and a powerful tool for kids. Check out our article on GeekMom to get the inside scoop on Google Breadcrumb.
18 May
What a cool summer challenge! Google has partnered with FIRST robotics and Wired magazine to create an X Prize challenge especially for kids. Teams of young people ages nine through seventeen can register for this cool challenge. Teams of between three to six people, including one adult mentor, design a Lego Mindstorms robot to explore the moon. Registration opened on May 9th and continues through June 13th. For phase I of the project, teams will complete a video. Participants will create a video based on four different categories. Teams will also be asked to submit a written proposal of why their robot should be funded to go the Moon. Read our write-up over at GeekMom for even more info.
Learn more about the challenge at the official MoonBots website.
26 Feb
Howtoons is a comic-based website full of rich comic strips containing ingenious instructions on how to make things using basic science and engineering principles. Aimed at 8 to 12-year olds, Howtoons uses rich, colorful animation and a fun story to engage children’s natural interest in humor, comic strips, and having fun.
Our youngster gravitated to the marshmallow shooter, the laser-sighted spit ball gun, and the counting in binary comics. I like the learning to tell time by the sun comic. There are dozens of great comic strips on the Howtoons site, and a handy keyword search to help you find topics of specific interest. There are also published Howtoons books, posters, t-shirts, and kits available for purchase on the Howtoons website.
Many of the projects encourage using objects that would be otherwise discarded, cost little or no money, and are simple fairly simple to make. The science and engineering principles are craftily weaved into the story line, so learning happens through play, not through formalized education. For us, that makes all the difference.
2 Oct
We love to watch the Pixar movie shorts that usually precede a Pixar movie. Well, with Blender, a free, open source 3D animation tool, kids can learn to create their own 3D animated short films. Although Blender definitely isn’t kiddie software, Super3boy’s online tutorials really help. Our young homeschooler isn’t the least bit intimidated by the software, and I suspect that having a peer guide (Super3boy) makes it less overwhelming.
Super3boy is an amazingly talented young man (who is actually in college now) who started learning Blender when he was 12. As a young teenager, he created an entire YouTube video tutorial series on learning Blender. Super3boy also posted his tutorials on his website, nystic.com. On nystic.com, viewers can watch the online tutorials, download the Blender file, and even download the video tutorial.
The interesting thing about how I learned about Super3boy is that I asked my young homeschooler to find some good Blender tutorials on YouTube. Of all the Blender tutorials on YouTube, he liked Super3boy’s videos best. Hmmm. Kids helping other kids learn complex concepts. I think we’ve found a powerful new learning resource!
20 Sep
We just completed our first project from our new GeekDad book (Thanks MAKE! Magazine), and we can’t wait to start on the next one! We chose the Make Your Own Cartoons project because we already had everything we needed to get started. Our young homeschooler loved animating his favorite riddle, and chose LEGO knights as his delivery vehicle. He helped build the light box for our photography session, and manipulated the images in GIMP according to Ken’s directions in the coloring book project. Finally, he used ComicLife, a Mac comic strip software program, to bring his work to life. The project took several hours, but it was really fun!
GeekDad is clearly written for any Geeky parent who truly enjoys playing with his/her kids, so Geeky Moms out there will love this book just as much as the Geeky Dads. Hopefully, Geeky Moms will see past the name, which gets its name from the Wired.com GeekDad blog (managed by the author).
The book has projects for all ages, but they are truly designed for parents to build and design with their kids. For younger children, there are the Superhero ABC Book, the Coolest Handmade Coloring Books, and Wind-up Toy Finger Painting projects. Older kids will enjoy building the Wi-Fi Signal Booster or Creating Electronic Flash Cards on a Sony PSP. There are also plenty of cool projects for kids who love LEGOS and role-playing games. The great thing about this book is that it gives you precisely the correct amount of information to get started, but leaves PLENTY of room for imagination. We found the instructions clear and helpful, with just the right tips and suggestions. The key ingredient to all of the projects in this book, though, is fun!
I think we’ll be building the Cool LEGO Lighting from Repurposed Parts project soon!
31 May
XLogo is a very simple drawing program that lets young kids easily learn the concepts of computer programming. XLogo uses a subset of the LOGO programming language and only uses about 42 commands. Kids write simple programs to draw on the screen using commands like newturtle, showturtle and hideturtle. Yes, turtles are what you ‘control’ in order to draw on the screen.
XLogo is great because its interface is so simple, kids can get started in minutes. XLogo is a fun way to teach logic, creative problem solving and typing skills. If your child masters this little language, he/she can extend his/her knowledge to more robust versions.
The XLogo version we are using is only available for Mac OS X. There is an updated version that can be installed on a PC, but we have not tried it. From looking at screenshots of the PC version, it looks like the PC version is somewhat more complex but also more powerful than the simple Mac version.
If you want to give XLogo a try, here are some resources to get you started:
Mac OS X
Windows
Read ‘The Children’s Machine‘ by Seymour Papert, the person who developed Logo. Logo is intended as an interactive learning and discovery tool.
Visit the Logo Foundation website for information on other Logo products
Have Fun!
Cool Reads
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