I often get asked about good STE{A}M gifts for kids. I know that there are a ton of these gift guides out there, but I figured we'd share some of the things that we love at CodeForce. My rule was simple - if it is on this page it has to be something that currently is or will, in the future, be used as part of either our Little Makers Program or in one of our camps or classes.
There were a lot of items on our short list, but these made the final cut.
** Note: We receive no money from these companies. These recommendations are based on our own experiences and fit into the CodeForce curriculum.
Why We Love It: This series of books is great for both boys and girls. It teaches them about 3 inspirational woman from the world of science; Ada Lovelace, Marie Curie, and Amelia Earhart. The author does a great job of mixing facts with good stories. Plus, it gives us just another opportunity to read.
Cost: $28.07 on Amazon Ages: 3 to 7 years old.
What We Love: We love any Lego product, really. But with a big bucket of lego pieces your kid can spend hours building and tearing down and then building again. I doubt we have to sell you very much on Lego's, but no good holiday guide is worth its salt unless it includes Lego's.
Cost: $38.39 on Amazon . Ages: 4+
What We Love: We actually bought this game pre-CodeForce for Emily. We loved that it helps promote programmatic thinking. It also teaches them critical thinking and problem solving. But, what we love the most about this game is that it teaches them that it's okay to make mistakes! They will code their turtle and when there is a "bug" (i.e. they made a mistake) they have to fix it. Plus - its just a really fun game.
Cost: $24.95 on Amazon Ages: 4+
Why We Love It: This game is amazing. It is designed for kids 5 and up, but we have seen kids as young as 2 use it. We love that it teaches critical thinking and problem solving - but that is only the beginning. They learn about stacking, patterns, communication, verbal skills, and so much more.
Cost: $26.99 on Amazon. Ages: 5 and up.
What We Love: This product is great! It comes with about 100 easy to follow projects that will ignite your kids imaginations. The will very quickly start to build their own creations from what they learn. We love that its durable and easy to use, even for kids as young as 5. The color coded parts makes following the schematics for the 100+ projects easy, even for pre-readers.
At CodeForce, we love using this kit. Kids will learn about electronics and circuitry which makes their progression into our makers labs that much easier! Plus, when it "clicks" the kids have a great time trying new designs.
Cost: $19.22 on Amazon
Ages: 8 - 108 per the box, but we also use this in our Little Makers classes (ages 5-7)
What We Love: This little robot is incredible. This newer model comes with sounds, a proximity sensor, and more. Plus the lights are amazing and just adds to the excitement. We love how easily kids can code them using markers or the Ozoblockly coding language. We use them to teach basic, intermediate, and advanced coding concepts. It is such a great teaching tool. But don't let that fool you - kids can play for hours using these guys.
Cost: $123.95 on Amazon
Ages: 8 and up (But, we've used it with the markers in our Little Makers Program).
What We Love: We are really excited to add this little fella to our curriculum. We love the AI component. The robot can learn to recognize your kid, express emotions, and even remember their names! The best part is that it uses the same block coding languages that CodeForce kids are used to. The cost is higher than our other recommendations, but Cosmo comes highly, highly recommended by us.
Cost: $126.50 on Amazon . Ages: 8 and up.
Shameless Plug Alert...
What We Love: As most of you probably already know, I am a terrible salesperson. But, I'd be remiss if we didn't take this (not so subtle) opportunity to include CodeForce in your gift ideas :)
Cost: $25, $50, $100, and $199.00
Ages: 5 and Up!
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