Tag: STEM

2020 Holidays, Education, STEM Learning, Toy Reviews

Smarty JOJO Toy teaches directions, shapes, colors and opposites with Play

Erin Sluka
Smarty JOJO Toy teaches directions, shapes, colors and opposites with Play

Smarty JOJO!™ is not just smart, he is interactive. Smarty JOJO toy teaches directions, shapes, colors and opposites with play. Flycatcher is an early UK company that offers innovative tech toys that are brilliant. Available in the US on Amazon is this genius toy plane with personality (if there is a toy out there that has its own personality, JOJO is it)! He retails for under $25 and I still can hardly believe its price point is that low for what he offers in play.

The question I had after learning about Smarty JOJO is how well he actually performs in person so I was able to give him a try. I do not have any preschoolers at home. I do watch my 12 month old nephew – too young for this but he was highly intrigued by his voice and fun design. He carried it all around with him. But I was the one who played with Smarty JOJO for his features and any child from 3-5 will have instant friend with JOJO.

Let me list his awesome features for you

  • Identifies colors
  • Speaks English and Spanish
  • Encourages physical play with its motion sensors. The more your child moves with JOJO the more fun he offers
  • Fun missions teach directions, shapes, opposites, and emotional intelligence: Right & Left, Up & Down, Fast & Slow to name a few
  • Follow a task correctly and JOJO’s lights flash as he states you are correct

Kids learn as they play. For instance, when JOJO is asking your child to “go left” or “go right” there is a small light on each wing that will light up so they know which direction is right/left. When asked to go “land on a color” he will flash lights and give a congratulatory command to indicate you are correct.

He will surely be a hit over the Holidays. Smarty JOJO is likely to remain my favorite recommendation for ages 3-5 for the 2020 Holidays! Find Smarty JOJO and other Flycatcher products on Amazon. Another Flycatcher hit in our home for the older sibling (ages 5-99) is the smART Sketcher! Learn more at Flycatcher Toys!

Smarty JOJO Pin
Visit our 2020 Holiday Gift Guide for more great gift ideas
Education, Kids, Non-seasonal, STEM Learning

Build and Code Your Own Tablet with Kano

Erin Sluka

What projects do you have planned with the kids this summer? We are building and coding a tablet! That’s right, we will build our very own tablet that will be touchscreen and download apps and play on it with or without a keyboard. With Kano, making your own tablet is easier than you think.

The booklet comes with easy-to-follow illustrated instructions and the parts are sturdy and brightly colored to match the illustrations as you move along and build and code your own tablet. My son had his box opened and was connecting pieces in minutes.

The best part is that they get to touch the pieces, connect the board, buttons and bits. They learn how a tablet works because they understood the reasoning to each step.

If you get stuck they have a great help section with solutions to any problem no matter how small or big.

Once the tablet is built there are a few things you can do. You can code your own games, music and art in Playground Mode. You can even hack Minecraft and do more advanced coding with real Javascript or Python.

The Story Mode app brings an in-depth look at how his computer works with challenges to complete and level up. The apps have hundreds of hours’ worth of coding challenges and games. Also, you can also download apps from the Kano app store like you would with any tablet.

To really turn their tablet into something spectacular, try the Harry Potter Coding Kit where you can build a wand, learn to code and make magic in the Harry Potter app. Available in the Kano store.

The Pixel Kit is fun as well because you get to make and code dazzling lights as well as build art and animation on a pixel box using a Kano app for help.

Get your Kano Computer Kit Touch today
Education, Holiday Gift Guide 2017, STEM Learning

Pet Me Multiplication and Division Math Board Game for Kids

Erin Sluka

I have partnered with Logic Roots for samples and feature

Logic Roots Pet Me Multiplication and Division Math Board Game

Anthony is in the 4th grade and knee deep into multiplication and division, They have been working on dividing 2×4 digits and multiplying large numbers as well. Having tools to practice at home is crucial. The first week of class he was so bummed when he kept bringing home homework papers filled with 1×1 multiplication problems. “Mom! This is easy. Why do we do like hundreds of these problems every week?”

Last week as he was doing his multiplication homework I reminded him about how upset he was wit the redundant work he had the beginning of the year. “The reason you did those over and over again was to make multiplying 1 digit at a time easier. Now that you are multiplying 3-4 in one problem it makes it faster and bit easier to learn to solve.” Now he got it.

division practice

It’s a lot of work sorting out those long division and multiplication problems at this age. Pet Me is here to help. It makes it so much more fun to practice math then those boring white sheets of papers with letters in black to solve with a pencil. He still has to do his homework sheets but just before bedtime we do our “fun” learning time.

math game

Pet Wonderland is full of adorable puppies, kittens and parrots. The theme of the game is a walk in the park. You will win many hearts as you feed them and meet them all. The goal of the game is to win the most hearts. It is about dividing food and love up equally.

Other players check the math and make sure each player is distributing evenly to the animals they encounter. Then sometimes you get an uneven equation and have remainders left over. It is all about landing on spots where the animals are not already adopted (fed) and claim them with hearts earned.

Pet Me game

Pet Me is one of several math games by Logic Roots and is great for ages 8+. There are more choices for this age and younger. You can find math sheets too for age-appropriate and subject practice.

You can buy on Amazon too!