How to Make Programming Fun for Your Child?

How to Make Programming Fun for Your Child?

Building Reflex Battle - Microduino

By Eoin Connolly. Dec. 6th, 2019

In this day and age, programming is becoming a wide-spread skill in many (if not all) industries, so providing your children with fun ways to take up this sought-after expertise will massively boost their prospects. As well as teaching other practical construction skills — which can be used to create a fun range of cool projects — teaching programming teaches children to think in a more literal way, aiding critical thinking and creativity.

There are so many things that make programming both educational, challenging and fun! You just need to know how you can deliver the concepts in a way that your child will find engaging and interesting. Microduino is one of the best options available to you — the kits are targeted at children aged 9 and up, and comprise a four-step, progressive STEM education, designed to get kids familiar with product design, coding, and electronics, as a way to ensure that the subject matter remains interesting, no matter what the level of the child in question.

In fact, Microduino have world-renowned designs of electronic and stackable building blocks. Their STEM learning systems are used by classes all over the world, sprouting ingenuity, imagination and creativity with project-based learning opportunities. With that in mind, 

here are a couple of ways you can make programming fun for your little one!

Itty Bitty Buggy - Microduino

This award-winning, educational toy is for those children who are highly imaginative and innovative. Combining both modules and sensors, this kit is seriously awesome for making programming fun!

There are 8 projects to be made with this one, namely the lighthouse, music box, nightlight, smart car, piggy bank, reflex battle, 1-on-1 basketball, and windmill! Children are guaranteed to get stuck in — and more importantly, stay stuck in — with the versatility of the building projects and creating something they are truly proud of.

 The coding here is a simple, easy to follow, drag and drop method so they can learn while seeing fast results — yes, even more, uncomplicated than Scratch!

mPuzzle - Microduino

If you have younger children, then you might like to give this to them as a gift. It is designed for a child who is 5 years old and over; it features magnetic components that snap seamlessly together to begin teaching basic circuitry concepts. 

The projects your child will be making include Flashlight, Kitty Alarm, Reflex Battle Game, Solar Fan, Desk Lamp, Magnet Detector, Remote Control LED, Solar Controlled Light, Buzzer Control, Personal Fan, Security Badge and Stop Light. Many hours and hours of fun to be had with this one.

mPie - Microduino

The mPie is a step up from the mPuzzle that we mentioned previously and is aimed at children who are aged 7 and over. 

It incorporates magnetic parts that easily connect together (much like the aforementioned mPuzzle) that introduces children to hardware coding. Advanced product design ideas are also implemented in this one in fun and interesting ways. 

Again, like the others, the product includes different projects that your children will have a huge amount of interest in, namely whack-a-mole, pinball, fly swatter, ambulance, rocket, lunar eclipse, and a catapult.

You can be sure that this isn’t just pure fun; the simple design of the Microduino platform makes it the perfect STEM learning tool in any classroom. This platform was carefully designed to fit into the modern STEM curricula and any cutting-edge lesson plan.

mCookie Kits - Microduino

These kits have been designed to eliminate the wires needed in traditional circuitry. This series includes the 102 Basic Kit, 202 Advanced Kit, 302 Expert Kit and finally, the Itty Bitty City kit is also included in this group. 

Your children will be introduced to Scratch 3 coding in mDesigner with these products, as well as having the option to use Python and Arduino IDE text-based coding too. And one of the best things about these Microduino kits is the fact that you’ve got a wide array of available sensors and modules; allowing for the utmost utilization of creative thought in education exercises! 

We are unbelievably lucky nowadays to have so many fun options for our children to use to learn otherwise challenging and, some may say boring, concepts and programming languages. You’ll never have to choose between buying them something educational or interesting again — with these, both aspects are rolled into one!

This award-winning, educational toy is for those children who are highly imaginative and innovative. Combining both modules and sensors, this kit is seriously awesome for making programming fun!

There are 8 projects to be made with this one, namely the lighthouse, music box, nightlight, smart car, piggy bank, reflex battle, 1-on-1 basketball, and windmill! Children are guaranteed to get stuck in — and more importantly, stay stuck in — with the versatility of the building projects and creating something they are truly proud of.

The coding here is a simple, easy to follow, drag and drop method so they can learn while seeing fast results — yes, even more, uncomplicated than Scratch!

Microduino at CES 2019

Microduino Showcase at CES 2019

In the spirit of making STEM/STEAM available to all students, makers, tinkerers and educators, Microduino, a manufacturer of stackable electronic building blocks and related accessories and peripherals, will be an exhibitor at CES® again this year. Visitors to their booth – #44267 at the Sands – will experience an impressive array of products they have developed and manufactured to inspire creativity, while teaching coding, logical thinking and problem solving. Come and visit them to see the following:

1. Itty Bitty Buggy is the KAPi Award winner this year for Best Maker Spirit. Buggy is truly a code programmable toy (CPT). It’s smart, easy to use and programmable with Scratch via a PC/Mac and Chromebook. Kids come to understand the power that coding has on a physical device by modifying the programs; a great beginning STEAM toy for younger kids. Buggy is colorful, fun and can be made into a sloth, dodo bird, ladybug and alien. 

2. Itty Bitty City is the sister companion to Itty Bitty Buggy and is also based on Microduino’s mCookie technology. Users can build the projects provided but can also easily create and program their own projects, integrating other form factors, such as 3D, using Microduino’s mounting design files.

3. Sequencing series for STEAM is appropriate for kids in elementary school through high school. Kids learn how to assemble basic circuitry with mPuzzle and move on to hardware coding with mPie. These programs provide colorful learning materials for teachers and students. Itty Bitty Buggy and Itty Bitty City show students where STEAM is heading via intelligent CPU-based projects.

4. MIX Kits 1, 2, 3 & 4 is how kids reinforce using logic and problem solving through the introduction of new components that expand their knowledge and skill set. With over 1,000 pages of project-based lesson plans combined, Microduino’s MIX kits serve a dual purpose: great for school hackathons and IoT projects, too.

“Providing STEAM toys that are easy to build, most within 5-10 minutes, and inspiring creativity in children, is one of our main goals. We are passionate about encouraging young people to develop their problem-solving skills, tap into their ability to use logic and learn coding, all at the same time.” said Bin Feng, CEO and Co-Founder of Microduino. “Visitors to our space will see and experience why hardware is part of our product line and why we use open source coding. It just makes sense. We think STEAM is all about having fun while learning the physical results of virtual thinking.”

Microduino is best known for their products such as the mCookie series; a series of small, stackable, and Arduino-compatible electronic building blocks. Their collection of easy-to-use, snap-together magnetic components, without the need for messy wiring or soldering puts them on the cutting edge of STEM/STEAM technology. Their slogan, “Creativity Is Contagious” was selected because of the multiple projects that can be made with their product kits; there are no limits to one’s imagination!

*CES® is a registered trademark of the Consumer Technology Association.

Microduino Brand Identity Name With Logo - Microduino

Microduino launches IdeaLab

Microduino Launches IdeaLab

December 13, 2018

Microduino, an award-winning global designer, developer, manufacturer, and leading seller of stackable electronic building blocks, related accessories and peripherals, and in-class science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning systems is proud to announce the launch of IdeaLab.

IdeaLab is their online community of makers, students, educators, teachers, designers, tinkerers, and DIYers. It’s the perfect place to: 

  •     Showcase STEM projects, inventions, and to exchange ideas
  •     Provide a platform and resource for makers, etc., to learn about STEM/STEAM
  •     Have a forum to ask questions and get answers about creating STEM technology
  •     And so much more

As Bin Feng, CEO of Microduino, stated, “The launch of our new IdeaLab is a great way for our users, educators, students, inventors, and anyone who loves to create to showcase their inventions. At Microduino, we firmly support collaborating with other makers and sharing ideas. Our community is a haven for people who are deeply involved with STEM/STEAM learning or who are just getting started and want to interact with experienced makers. We have created a central hub for people to come together and feel the excitement of the growing STEM/STEAM movement.”

To get a firsthand look at one of the projects posted to IdeaLab, check out this video submitted by a user https://youtu.be/d57rBdJfjcE. And to see more of the creative projects already posted to IdeaLab check out their projects here https://idealab.microduinoinc.com

Microduino is best known for their products such as the mCookie series (a series of small, stackable, and Arduino-compatible electronic building blocks), mPuzzle (a collection of easy-to-use, snap-together magnetic components that teach basic electronic circuitry concepts), mPie, and the Microduino STEM Mix Kits. They recently released the next generation of STEM toys with their Itty Bitty Buggy. This code programmable toy combines play, creativity and logic and allows consumers to build and program four different creatures. Their Creative Expansion Pack, a neat package of 100 additional building pieces, compatible with Itty Bitty Buggy, is one of Microduino’s newer offerings.

With offices in China and Brazil and their U.S. headquarters in Westlake Village, California, Microduino is on the cutting edge of STEM/STEAM technology and products that encourage creativity and fun. Microduino was also recently honored to be the recipient of the Top 30 Innovation Award presented at the Silicon Valley Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum and also won the coveted KAPi Award, Best Maker Spirit, to be presented at CES in January.

Microduino Brand Identity Name With Logo - Microduino

Microduino receives Top 30 Innovation Award at SVIEF 2018

Microduino Receives Top 30 Innovation Award at SVIEF 2018!

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We are honored to be the recipient of the Top 30 Innovation Award presented to us at the Silicon Valley Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum on September 29.

The event was very well attended and our team was among a high level crowd of such industry leaders as Tim Draper and Kai-Fu Lee. SVIEF is an international conference and promotes business partnerships and innovation connecting the US and the Asia-Pacific region. Talent, technology and capital all gathered in one venue! SVIEF attracts over 5,000 attendees every year since its inception in 2011.

Microduino at World Maker Faire 2018

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We would be remiss if we didn’t mention World Maker Faire in New York, another event we attended on September 22 and 23.

We are past winners of two prestigious awards; The 5 Best Things in 2016 and the Editor’s Choice Award in 2017. This year we launched our newest product – Itty Bitty Buggy and wowed the attendees, who were very taken with our Sloth! 

Microduino Brand Identity Name With Logo - Microduino