Thames & Kosmos Kids First Coding & Robotics Kit - No App Needed for Grades K-2 | Learn Sequences, Loops, Functions, Conditions | STEM Educational Toy for Early Programming | Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner | Perfect for Classroom & Home Learning Activities

$47.72

$86.78

Safe 45%

Thames & Kosmos Kids First Coding & Robotics Kit - No App Needed for Grades K-2 | Learn Sequences, Loops, Functions, Conditions | STEM Educational Toy for Early Programming | Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner | Perfect for Classroom & Home Learning Activities

$47.72

$86.78

45% Off

Delivery & Return: Free shipping on all orders over $50

Estimated Delivery: 10-15 days international

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SKU: 73486619

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Description

Meet Sammy. This cute little peanut butter and jelly sandwich is actually a robot that teaches coding principles and skills to children in grades K-2. You don’t need a tablet, smartphone, or computer to program this robot; programs are created by simply laying down a sequence of physical code cards. As the robot drives over the code cards, an OID optical scanner on the bottom of the robot reads the code cards one by one and loads the program. Next, place the robot on a grid made of map cards, and the robot runs the program. You can program the robot to move in different directions, activate its output gear, light up its LED, play sounds, and respond to different function cards. The integrated output gear makes it possible to build simple robotic creations with arms or other moving parts that respond according to the program’s instructions. This robot kit also teaches physical engineering and problem solving skills through a series of building and coding lessons. The 30 lessons are aligned with standards for computer science education developed by the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and the International Society for Technology (ISTE) Education, as well as courses from Code.org. The lessons progress in complexity through the illustrated manual, allowing the kit to be appropriate for a child as young as four years with help from an adult and as old as eight years. The lessons cover these six key areas in coding: sequencing, loops, events, conditionals, functions, and variables. In addition to Sammy, there are five other stories, each with a series of model-building and coding challenges and lessons related to it: a mouse moves through a maze to find cheese; a penguin wanders around a zoo; a soccer player moves a ball into the goal; a fire truck puts out a fire; and a factory robot performs tasks in a factory scene. A full-color illustrated manual guides users through the coding lessons and the assembly of the different models.

Shipping & Returns

For all orders exceeding a value of 100USD shipping is offered for free.

Returns will be accepted for up to 10 days of Customer’s receipt or tracking number on unworn items. You, as a Customer, are obliged to inform us via email before you return the item.

Otherwise, standard shipping charges apply. Check out our delivery Terms & Conditions for more details.

Features

Early STEM learning an introduction to the fundamentals of coding and robotics for grades K-2.

Unplugged no software, apps, or smart devices required!

Clear explanations the 64-page, full-color experiment manual guides kids through the coding lessons and model building exercises.

Story-based six different storylines are included, each with a series of model-building and coding lessons, like a mouse moving through a maze to find cheese or a soccer player moving a ball into the goal!

Reviews

*****

Verified Buyer

First of all, I took a bit of a leap on this one because we had mixed results with another kit from the same company (the candy claw machine). It was VERY complex and it ended up my wife and I had to do the bulk of the construction. I worried this would be similarly challenging, bit it is PERFECT for younger kids (I'd say < 8 but even a 10 year old would probably have a blast). And once the physical construction is done that's where the real fun begins. The kit comes with two different types of cards that fit together like jigsaw pieces: programming cards and map cards. You use the former to "program" the bot and the latter to let it "execute" that program from its memory. It's worth mentioning I've had a number of false starts getting my kids (7 and 5) into the basics of coding. Typically the teaching tools I've found are either non-intuitive to a kid, or if they are the principles they impart are often non-transferable. If the lessons gleaned are entirely internal to the game or tool, what good is that? Within 20 minutes of beginning to lay out their programs, my kids were immediately learning highly transferable lessons about syntax, object orientation, debugging, trimming sequences to make them shorter without sacrificing functionality, etc. And all without the need for a complicated tablet app or any such thing. Everything you need comes with the kit. The construction feels hardy enough to withstand even the most brutish kids and the whole thing has the feel of a toy to them. Both of my kids are on Scratch almost every day (haven't quite made the leap to Python with my oldest), but I dare say this kit more efficiently taught them the most foundational and transferable principles of coding of any tool I've seen yet. Don't be scared of the price tag. Many dozens of lessons and experiments will keep the insights running for quite a while. This thing is worth every penny!My sense is if your kid is in Grade 4+, you can probably just skip straight to a real language. There will be struggles, but they may as well learn a real language at that point. The insights about syntax and debugging and such will just come from experience. But for younger kids this is the best tool I've ever seen for teaching the foundations of coding, bar none.

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