News from TechTerra Education
Special Holiday Edition UPDATE - November 2017
Top 25 STEM Holiday Gift Picks for 2017
Play-Doh Touch Shape and Style Set - Bring Play-Doh creations to life in a virtual world. Download the Play-Doh Touch app, shape a Play-Doh creation and place it on the scan card, then scan it into the app with your smart device. The creation will come to life on the screen.
photo from Play-doh website
Crayola Color Alive Easy Animation Studio - Download the free app and hover your smartphone or tablet over the coloring page to import your character into the app. Then configure the included mannequin in cool poses, snapping pictures of each new position. The character on the screen responds to the mannequin's movements and the result is a completely kid-created animated movie.
photo from Crayola website
Flybrix Drone Kit - Flybrix Kits come complete with all the components you need to make and fly rebuildable, crash-friendly drones from one kit. Flybrix is designed for anyone who is interested in building and flying their own creations. The included Flybrix Flight Control App for Android and iOs gets your designs airborne.
photo from Fly-brix website
Magik Play | iPad STEM Learning Games - Classic building blocks have been around for centuries and are one of the best toys for kids to learn through play. Magik Play takes building blocks one step further. Research suggests that ‘tangible interfaces,’ like magik play, link physical actions and digital effects which can help kids engage and reflect. Each block contains a magnet that releases energy detected by the tablet circuits. An app on your tablet detects that energy when you bring the blocks and the tablet together to explore, build and learn.
photo from Magik bee website
Hummingbird Duo Base Robot Kit - The Hummingbird Duo base kit contains everything you need to build a fun robot with moving parts and lots of LED lights. Sensors in the base kit allow your robot to sense light levels or temperature. Hummingbird is designed to enable engineering and robotics activities that involve making of robots, kinetic sculptures, and animatronics built out of a combination of kit parts and crafting materials.
photo from Hummingbird website
Pai Technology’s Circuit Conductor - This electricity lesson kit is a set of circular blocks with chunky magnetic wires as well as an app. The set allows you to configure the blocks to complete lots of different types of electronic circuits. The app shows the movement of electricity between the blocks and the wires using augmented reality.
Photo from Pai Technology webpage
Makeblock’s Airblock – This is an entertaining modular, programmable drone and hovercraft all in one. You build it, code it, then fly it or sail it. The versatility is part of its charm.
Photo from Makeblock website
No Starch Press STEM Books - Official Scratch Jr Book, Teach Your Kids to Code, and Learn to Program with Scratch – These books teach kids, and their parents, coding and programming.
Photos from No Starch Press Website
Octagon Studios 4D+ Flashcards – These augmented reality flashcards are a super stocking stuffer and can provide hours of fun and learning. The cards let you bring dinosaurs, animals, car and space adventures to life.
Photos from Octagon website
Osmo Coding Jam Game – Osmo’s tactile Coding Jam pieces let kids learn coding through music. Kids can create, code, compose and share music. The Osmo base is required to use the game.
Photo from Playosmo website
Pai Technology AR Storybooks – These high tech books let you enjoy reading stories just like traditional print books. They also allow you to augment story adventures using the app.
Photo from Pai Technology website
Robo C2 3D Printer – This 3d printer is very fast and eco-friendly. It uses a variety of filaments including recycled ones. This wi-fi capable printer can connect with your phone.
Roboloco’s Roboterra Robotics Kit – This kit contains a complete collection of robotics components and gives you access to the CastleRock online learning platform. It’s an easy-to-use kit and well suited for introducing middle or high school students who want to learn C++ programming to robotics.
Photo from Roboloco website
Robotis Play Series – With the Play Series, robots are easy to build. Through that process you get to work with the Robotis super engineering and design tool. Your robot can interact with an app.
Photo from Robotis website
Sphero Mini – The Mini is a ping-pong ball sized app-enabled robotic ball. You can drive the mini around with the app and you can also use your facial expressions to make the Mini move. The Mini comes with LED lights and mini traffic cones and bowling pins.
Photo from Sphero webpage
Thinkfun Roller Coaster Logic and Challenge Building Game – This is a building game where you choose a challenge card and build a roller coaster that meets the conditions on the card. This fun STEM logic puzzle lets you experiment with your design.
Photo from Thinkfun webpage
Staff Picks:
“The Makeblock Neuron Kit is a programmable electronic building block platform for STEM education. The blocks are sleek, compact and easy to use. The tools allow for a wide variety of projects – from the relatively simple to the complex. The projects are engaging and have real world applications.” - Lynne
Photo from Makeblock website
“I love Kano’s Motion Sensor Kit. The kit gives you the ability to be mouse/touchpad free as your hand becomes the cursor. There are endless possibilities for play including coding, music and games. My six year old can use this tool, but it can also challenge my teenagers.” - Sharon
Photo from Kano website
“My favorite tool is the 3Doodler Start Essentials 3D Printing Pen Set. Younger students can easily follow a blueprint design, create and assemble a project, while more advanced students can create their own projects. The pen is safe to use and the filament cools quickly.”
- Monica
Photo from 3Doodler website
“Chibitronics Love to Code Chibi Clip and Love to Code Scope are easy to use and can take you from zero coding experience to coding a program in minutes. You connect your code to circuitry and see your code at work right away as you craft a project. The clip and scope have an almost unlimited potential. Beginners and experienced coders will enjoy Chibitronics.” - Mary
Photo from Chibitronic website
“I really like Primo Toy’s Cubetto because students can use this tool for visual coding. I love the fact that it can be used with writing and storytelling as well as with math. Cubetto’s cloth maps make it easy for kids to create a story while coding their destination.” - Donna
Photo from Primo Toy website
“My favorite tool is Kamigami. I (and my granddaughters) love playing with the programming and letting Kamigami robots run around the house. It’s almost like having a pet. Kamigami robots sing, dance, change color and make neat sounds. Two Kamigami robots can be programmed to interact with each other, adding to the excitement and fun!” - Stephanie
Photo from Kamigami Website
“I gifted my friend’s son with a Bluebee Pal Pro. You’ve never seen a more excited four year old. Bluebee is a Talking Plush Learning tool. He is bluetooth connected and talks along, even sings along with apps!” - Val
Photo from Bluebee Pals Website
“The favorite tool in my classroom is Birdbrain Technology’s Finch Robot. My kids explore computer science by coding Finch. They’re able code with a great hands-on tool.” - Cindy
Photo from Finch Robot Website
“Hands-down favorite for me is the Zu3D Animation Kit. If you haven’t tried stop motion animation with your kids this is the tool for you. The software is really easy to use. Think claymation fun with movie-making and you’ve got a hit!” - Chris
Photo from Zu3DWebsite
Our Gift To You: The TechTerra Holiday Giveaway!
You can win our surprise STEM package!
This year we are giving away one huge surprise STEM package including microcontroller projects, electronics, coding tools and more! It’s a STEM Extravaganza worth over $300! Be our lucky winner by posting our TechTerra newsletter with our handle- @Techterraeducation on Twitter, Instagram, or on Facebook.
The winner will be announced on December 31, 2017 through the TechTerra Education Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and website.
Good luck and remember to enter right away!
About TechTerra Education
The TechTerra Education curriculum - inspired and informed by Maker Education and Project Based Learning - was developed by Susan Wells, a national leader in mobile education and a former public school educator who made groundbreaking advances integrating digital technology into the classroom.
What We Can Offer You
TechTerra Education conducts professional development and presents space and tool solutions for integrating STEM objectives, ideas and projects throughout curriculum. We bring our training to you so you can best serve your 21st century learners whether they are preschool age or young adults.
We also offer Camp TechTerra after school in the fall and spring sessions, integrated into the school day sessions, and/or in summer camps, for students ages 5 to 14.
Intrigued?
Bring more STEM understanding to your school and help young people better perceive the natural world through coding, storytelling, and handheld exploration.
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Copyright ©2017 TechTerra Education, LLC.
Pictures of cardboard robot from Shutterstock, artist Bas Nastassia