Dot and Dash from @Wonderworkshop: Bringing Tech to Toddlers Worldwide
Bringing STEM to the Nursery
The other day, I was waiting for the midday school bus to come to my house and drop off my son Robert. He is an amazing little tyke who is just one of my (world famous) Edutriplets. Every day for the last month little Robert comes home and runs off the bus and says the very same thing to me day after day. . . “Can we play with Dot and Dash daddy?”
Yes, my friends, my three-year-old is asking to play with robots. The most adorable thing about this question is that Robert is actually VERY good when it comes to coding Dot and Dash from Wonder Workshop. His robotics education started small. We downloaded the free apps for the iPad and together we learned about their simple block based learning platform. I started by reading the screen to him and then asked him to grab the green block and drag it under the red block. Before I knew it, he was navigating around the Scratch-like screens with no problem. (the only problem, of course, is that he still can't read . . . but again . . . it's ADORABLE.)
How can I bring robots into the home?
Activities involving toddlers and #toddlertech are commonplace in my house. All three of my little ones love using the Free Play features in the Wonder Workshop apps and driving Dash around the kitchen floor and into the feet of their mother. Quite often, however, when I work with them on these skills, I ask myself, how can I bring robotics into the classroom so that all students have these experiences?
Bring Robotics to Your School Today!
Wonder Workshops recently announced three brand new classroom packs that are designed to bring the wonderful world of robotics into the hands of students of all ages.
There are several ways to bring Dot and Dash into your classroom. The new educator packs offer a “comprehensive coding and robotics solution that combines curriculum, robots, and accessories” so that all you have to do is open the box and allow the creativity to flow out of your students the way it does from the EduTriplets.
To learn more about these new packs, visit their education store to see how you can bring a little Dot and Dash into your curriculum.
Why Dot and Dash?
Dash & Dot are real robots that teach your kids to code while they play. Using our free apps and a compatible tablet or smartphone, kids learn to code while they make Dash sing, dance and navigate all around the house. Sensors on the robot mean they react to the environment around them, including your kids.
Connect with Wonder Workshop
What else can Toddlers do with Dot and Dash?
There really isn't much that you can't use Dot and Dash for in the world of STEM education. Imagine you are teaching the topic of explorers to your social studies students. What if you set up the desks in your class to represent the continents of North America and Europe and you had to code your Dash robot so that it goes from one location to another. Or, how about recreating a battle in a famous war between an armada of Dash robots that are all sporting their sides uniforms and colors. (see toy hacking from our friend Sam Patterson).
No matter what subject you teach, there is a great way to incorporate STEM and robotics into your classroom lessons.
As far as my three-year-olds go, we will continue to learn how to make Dash run into Mom and make Dot's lights go wacky while we archive their speech patterns into it's memory bank. How will YOU be using your Dot and Dash this year?
Are you already using Dot and Dash in the classroom? We would love to hear your stories of how robotics are being implemented in your curriculum. Please leave us a comment below and share your story.
About the author, Jeffrey Bradbury
Jeff Bradbury, creator of TeacherCast, and father of the famous @EduTriplets Thanks for checking out TeacherCast today. Please take a moment to find me on all of my Social Media channels!