Jenise sez, "When I worked for a robotics company, I complained bitterly about the lack of robotic toys for my daughter to my boss, Mitch Rosenberg. Yesterday, he sent me an email with the answer to my problem: KIBO, a robot kit specifically designed for kids age 4-7. Mitch partnered with Marina Umaschi Bers, co-creator of Scratch Jr., to found KinderLab Robotics, Inc., and they're trying to produce the toy I dreamed of for my daughter."
Looks amazing, but it ain't cheap: $219 minimum to get the actual blocks, $349 for the full set.
Sez Mitch, "Young children learn by doing. Children build their own robot with KIBO,
program it to do what they want, and decorate it. KIBO gives children the chance to make their ideas physical and tangible — exactly what their young minds and bodies need. And KIBO does all this without requiring screen time from PCs, tablets or smartphones."Kinderlab Robotics needs to raise money to equip a manufacturing facility plus seed inventory for its first commercial-scale production run, and the fundraising is being done with this Kickstarter campaign."
Alas, my daughter is now seven and has moved on to LEGO WeDo and Minecraft, but for all of you out there with young robot enthusiasts, this is the programming toy you've been waiting for.
