by Susie Menk, Youth Services Librarian
Hi! My name is Miss Susie and I am a Youth Librarian at Manitowoc Public Library. If you don’t know me, I love playing with Tech Toys! MPL has a wide variety of tech toys—Cubelets, Osmos, Ozobots, and LittleBits Droids. These tech toys allow me to work with kids and show them how fun circuits and coding and robotics can be.
Since technology is a huge part of our world, it’s important that children have some understanding of how it works. Coding is the computer language that tells computers or robots what to do—but there is so much more to it than that! Circuits are a big part of what operates many robots and tech toys, so children need to know a “little bit” about that, too (if you know about this this little pun already, LittleBits are color-coded circuit pieces that can be used to operate our R2D2 Droids).
Cubelets are magnetic squares that can be put together in a multitude of ways to make many different mini-robots. Cubelets are easy to manipulate and can be used by themselves, with LEGOS, or they can be connected via Bluetooth to a computer and they can be programmed. I love the Cubelets because they’re so versatile. Little kids can have fun just connecting them and moving them around. Middle Graders can be shown how to put them together in order to problem solve with them. Other students can use them to practice block coding or even get into C+ coding through the corresponding webpage.
Osmos are another innovative tech toy. My favorite part of these toys is that they allow for manipulating real objects while connected to an iPad. One Osmo toy is a tangram—you get the various shaped pieces to maneuver and the outline of how the shape should ultimately look on the computer screen. As you move the colored pieces on the tabletop, the computer screen lights up when a piece is in the right spot. This combines tactile learning and computers. Tactile learning is important since that helps brains development. We also have an Osmo toy that is a pizza company. The child learns to buy ingredients, sell pizzas, make change for customers, and then earn money to buy new things for the store. It’s a great way to teach some basic life skills.
Ozobots are little mini-computers that have a light sensor on the bottom of the robot. As children draw with markers and add color codes to the paper, the little robot follows the lines and then does the action that matches with the color codes added. Ozobots are cute, and they light up and make sounds. Bottom line—they’re fun to play with! Like the Cubelets, Ozobots are great for many age levels. The younger ones can draw and play with the robots, while older children can connect the Ozobots via Bluetooth to a smart device and then do some computer coding with them.
I love to share the many Tech Toys that MPL has in its possession and I will be doing that again out at Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center for their STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) Days. MPL will have a booth at Farm Wisconsin on Wednesday, December 29, from 10 AM-2 PM. Come see me and have some fun playing and learning with Manitowoc Public Library’s Tech Toys! If you can’t join me on December 29, keep an eye on the “Events” page of the Library’s website (www.manitowoclibrary.org) and our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/manitowoclibrary) for more STEM programming in the upcoming months.
