Are Robots Helpful? + 2 Educational Robots To Consider

Automated Soap Dispenser

This is said to save product by only giving you a specific amount each time. Even though I could wave my hand near it multiple times to get more soap. I’ve also seen some you can get online and some you can get at stores.

Automated Sinks

I’ve seen some cool automated sinks at grocery stores. This invention I like the most since touching sinks is gross.

Do you have a little sibling, niece, nephew, or cousin that you feel could do more than simply play games and watch videos for recreation? Robots can be fun for young kids while being educational if used and taught properly.

These products give a hands-on, visual drag-and-drop approach to coding, using Blockly-based software. Blockly is made by Google. I did not know this before. Fun fact, it powers code.org, which I used in elementary school to learn JavaScript!

Also I’m using this topic as nostalgia for the things I did growing up. The concepts of coding and engineering I learned from an early age strengthened my interests now. What you learn at an early age is very important.

Recently nostalgia hit me when I found the smaller than palm-sized robots I used back in elementary school for STEM class! They’re Evo Ozobots. Each color [red, green, blue, black] you use for its path makes it act differently.

There’s 3 different ways to control Ozobots. For an intricate coding experience controlled by blue-tooth, Ozobot Blockly is their online visual drag-and-drop programming software. They have an Evo app available on Apple and Android that you can make paths with and lights for dance parties to place the Evo robot on. The third way is how we used Ozobot in school – making paths on paper. This opens the door for more opportunities and crafts made with path making. Mazes, race tracks, soccer, etc.

I think we had 1-3 Evo Ozobots. We could not get enough of them back then! I still remember how big the library was! The library teacher had stations with different activities such as origami, Lego, and lemon invisible ink writing. We had to rotate to a new station in a couple of days, yet we would always want to come back to the Ozobots!

She would always warn us to be careful with them since they are expensive. They were and still are pricey. Back then I think I remember wanting to buy one for use at home but couldn’t. A small kit I searched up recently is $175 [1 Ozobot]. The classroom kit I saw is almost $3,000 [18 Evo Ozobots]. They have many other kits however. Depending on the kit, they come with markers, printed paths to arrange and color, and accessories like helmets.

Is the price reasonable enough to buy? That’s a personal decision. It has potential for teaching opportunities in classrooms and home-schooling. It helps kids visualize what code can do in machines. It teaches logic, coding, creativity, problem solving, drawing, crafting, game design, math, reading, even engineering at an early age. I also know that there are cheaper ways to teach these things.

Does your little sister, niece, or cousin love to play with dolls? The Siggy Robot is a self-balancing scooter for the SmartGurlz line of dolls. Controlled by an app called SugarCoded that uses Blockly. However, one thing the video points out is that love for dolls is fading slowly. I slightly agree.

I did not have this product growing up. However, I used to love playing with dolls when I was little. I built houses for them out of my bookshelf, cardboard, and fancy paper. I built furniture and bought lights from Dollar Tree. I bought 3d miniatures [food, pets, etc.] from Michaels and JoAnns with my allowance. But the new generations rely on the internet more [not to say there’s no kid that plays with dolls anymore].

However, if you want to instill education beyond just looking at screens and playing with toys, this could be beneficial. It’s also pricey, $75-80 even with the doll included. Again, your decision if you want to buy it for a relative or opt for cheaper activities.