Review

Review: Wonder Workshop Dash Sketch Kit

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Dash Robot in #bigmakerbook

In 2016 when we began writing our #bigmakerbook, Aaron and I included the Dash robot for our programming section. This awesome quirky robot is a great robot for beginning to code/program directions. (I also did an extensive robot comparison chart comparing Sphero/Dash/Ozobot.)

In our makerspace project book, Aaron and I used Dash to teach kids how to code an equilateral triangle and even program a dance party with other robot friends. One thing I love about Dash that is different from Sphero is that Dash has a very obvious front and back which helps when tinkering and adjusting code in attempts at driving straight lines and turning tight corners.

Sketch Kit

So I was pretty stoked to try out the new sketch kit from Wonder Workshop. This kit comes with a harness for Dash so you can attach a marker to it. Something pretty ingenious about the harness it that with the movement of Dash’s head, you can place the marker down for drawing, or bring it back up so it can drive to a new spot before laying down tracks. This means our projects from the book, can now be updated for students to attempt drawing different types of triangles, rather than trying to drive Dash on a pre-made track.

The sketch kit contains:

  • 1 marker harness
  • 6 custom dry-erase markers (red, blue, green, orange, purple, black)
  • 6 project cards

The whiteboard mat does not come with the sketch kit, but is offered at a separate price point.

Usability

The programming for this kit is integrated into the existing Blockly app. It’s fairly easy to try out pre-existing drawings, but it’s always more fun to draw your own shapes.

Some of the existing drawings need the code tinkered with to be more precise, but that’s always a good computational tinkering challenge.

If you haven’t used the Blockly app, it is similar to the popular kid-friendly programming platforms Scratch and MakeCode. It uses color palettes to differentiate types of code like Drive, Lights, Control, etc.

Cost

At $40 bucks, the sketch kit is at a decent price for adding to your existing Dash robots. The whiteboard mat is really cool, but at $100 bucks libraries and schools may not be able to afford this mat alongside the sketch kit. Also, it is quite heavy, so it’s difficult to roll up and store. (One of my students folded it in half the other day and almost completely ruined it!) If you are worried about cost, use an old white board or pick up some showerboard from Home Depot.

If you can order directly from Wonder Workshop, you can get the sketch pack (with whiteboard mat included) for $129.

Bottom Line

The sketch kit is a super cool addition to your Dash robots. If you and your students like using the launcher and xylophone, you’ll enjoy the sketch pack and seeing math mesh with art right before your eyes!

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Note: I was not paid to write this post, but I did receive the sketch pack from Wonder Workshop for review purposes. 

Review: Chibitronics Love to Code Creative Coding Kit

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Making Paper Circuits with Chibi Stickers

I’ve been a fan of Chibitronics since I learned that these sweet little circuit stickers existed! In 2015, I learned a lot about circuits alongside my Circuit Girls when my Donors Choose grant for the Circuit Sticker Notebook was funded. I became pretty obsessed with making paper circuits because I was able to learn some of the fundamentals of electronics with my own hands! This obsession moved to sewing circuits because suddenly, this complicated thing known as Arduino became accessible to me (see my For the Love of Arduino post.) I no longer needed to understand breadboarding, I could just build my own circuits with conductive thread. (And through the magic of meaningful making, I now understand breadboarding from crafting sewing circuit projects.)

But wait…Programmable Paper Circuits?!

Last year, I was lucky enough to get a couple of Jie’s new clippable Arduino prototypes- the Love to Code Chibi Chip. This awesome little Arduino clip can be clipped onto a paper circuit so you can program your circuit stickers (or regular LEDS!) I was (and STILL AM) amazed at the ease and power of this tiny little board. However, the most AMAZING thing is that you and your students can program this microcontroller from your phone, iPad, or Chromebook. YES, ladies and gentlemen, from a CHROMEBOOK! No software download is necessary.  Check out the first few projects I made with the Love to Code board here.

Introducing the Love to Code Creative Coding Kit!

Now Jie and Chibitronics have a great new immersive and interactive coding book where you and your students can clip an Arduino board right inside this beautiful binder and program your freshly crafted paper circuits.

K-Fai’s illustrations bring Jie’s instructions to life. There are ample pages for children and students to create their own drawings and circuit traces. Which makes crafting and learning a joy in this all inclusive DIY kit.

We received the kit in November and my 8 YO daughter enjoyed creating and drawing her own circuits. However, the best thing about this kit (that astounded me) is that she learned to tinker with Arduino code and found confidence in programming her paper circuits with MakeCode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She worked through the simple circuits, parallel circuits, and beginning coding projects. She loved adding hidden drawings that only appeared with programmed light.

Eventually, I started working through the book in some of the more complicated projects, because I really wanted a turn to use this book!

Love to Code / ChibiScript Platform

One of the coolest things about this coding platform with Chibitronics, is that students, teachers, and learners of all ages can program with any type of device (phone, Chromebook, etc) that has an audio jack. PLUS, they can easily find errors in Arduino coding in the ChibiScript platform. (Which is something that is really difficult to understand as a beginner Arduino coder in the original Arduino software.)

When Jie and I taught an ISTE workshop last summer based around the new Chibi chip, I was amazed to see that every educator in the room had success programming with this powerful little board. Most of these educators had never even made a paper circuit, programmed a microcontroller, or seen the Arduino platform before! See their explorations in programming paper circuits here.

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Programming with MakeCode

My 8 YO preferred programming with MakeCode. Once I’d taken over crafting the circuits (because I really wanted to get my hands on the book… sorry kid….) I let my 8 YO program (and reprogram) the circuits. It was super easy to do, especially letting her just write her programs on an iPad. She loves this type of problem solving.

 

So….What’s in the Kit?

The Powered Binder– This amazing illustrated binder has 150 full color pages that can be removed, hacked, and crafted upon. Students can read through Fern’s story and learn alongside this funny frog as she learns how to make simple circuits, and how to program LEDs. The explanations are student friendly and the drawings by K-Fai are delightfully fun. I love how the book uses simple illustrations to cover big concepts. (I also heard that *soon* educators will be able to buy subsequent sections to fit into this same binder. There is room to grow both physically and mentally!) Plus, the binder has it’s own power source, so learners can plug right into this binder and be ready to program! This might actually be my favorite thing about the whole kit, a simple and quick power source solution.

The Chibi Chip on a Chibi Clip – The amazingly accessible Chibi board is pre-mounted onto a chibi clip. This is another simple solution that makes coding so much more accessible. The coder can just pop their clip down on a hand made circuit and test their code in seconds!  (No breadboarding, no alligator clips- just laying down a circuit with copper tape!) This board is USB powered and programmed via an audio jack. The cable for power and uploading is included of course!

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Image from Chibitronics

Copper Tape and LEDs- The kit comes with 2 rolls of copper tape, 36 white LED stickers, 64 conductive fabric patches. Which is more than enough to make a few mistakes and still have tape and LEDs leftover!

The Stencil –  My daughter’s favorite thing in the kit (besides the story and the experience) is the Chibi stencil. She loved using the stencil to hide the Chibitronics logo all over the book.  As an educator, I loved the stencil because it helps when designing your own circuit traces.

colleengraveschibiclip9

Cost

Yes, the entire kit is expensive for an educator at $85 a kit. However, it’s well worth the price and the activities within will last you and your makers for months. While you might not be able to afford a class set, I’d suggest buying at least one to try it out yourself, or buy a few to try with a coding club. I’m planning on using mine in workshops to help independent learners that want to know more about programming paper circuits. If I had enough in my school budget to buy a class set for my coding club, I would! But for now, I’m going to buy a set of the Chibi Chip boards and supplement with the binder. (Maybe next year I can buy a set through Donors Choose or have a club fee? Things that make you go hmmm……)

Plus as a parent, I think it’s a beautiful gift for a child and well worth the money! (Probably best at 8 and up!)

Bottom Line?

The book and kit is amazing and worth every penny! It’s such a fun experience to be able to tinker and explore programming paper circuits in this binder. The Love to Code board is accessible for makers 8 and up, and the activities are easy to start and build schema quickly.

This set is one of the BEST low floor high ceiling tools in the maker ed market! 

Note: I did not get paid to write this post. I did receive the amazing binder for free and I am thankful to Jie and K-Fai for sharing their art with me. It is a beautiful resource!