There’s a rising popularity, thanks to the Maker Movement and the increasing importance of STEM education, for educational toys. One of the best for engaging young learners while promoting creativity is littleBits—an electronic version of LEGO. Despite its intimidating appearance, littleBits is actually really simple to use and designed specifically for use in K-5 classrooms.
Once cool thing I discovered about littleBits is that it’s super easy to craft and customize any number of projects using just a few of the kit’s pieces. I didn’t even need to follow any type of order as long as they connected.
The Code Kit, in particular, is very simple and straightforward even though it’s a bit more advanced than others like the Starter Kit. It also comes with a plastic screwdriver so kids can get hands on adjust the speed or frequency of the actions. Plus, each piece is magnetic so it’s extremely easy to connect and disconnect them, encouraging mistake-making growth all the way through! Best of all, there’s no need to put in any kind of effort when it came to disconnecting the pieces, unlike LEGO bricks.
All of the pieces connect to one another, so any combination will work in crafting a functional circuit. It is important to make sure that the triggers come before the action pieces, though, because, if there’s no code telling the action pieces what to do, they will not react.
Speaking of those action pieces, they include two LED bulbs, a vibrating sound piece, a fan, and a rotating blade. They can each be mixed and matched with the different trigger pieces and instant projects include adjusting the brightness of the bulbs with a dimmer switch to building a top-notch pressure sensor pad.
My most interesting combination was a dim light accompanied by the vibrating sound just to give it an edge. I attached the sound piece closer to the battery followed by the switch and, finally, the LED bulb. As soon as the piece started vibrating, I adjusted the switch to control how bright the light shone.
The possibilities were almost endless and, I must say, I had no idea what to create next! This tool tested my creativity and guided me to understand how basic circuitry works at a comfortable pace. Click below to browse the littleBits offerings, including the littleBits Space Kit, on the Eduporium store!
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