Advice about Coding Packages for Kids Aged 8-10. Lego Mindstorms Ev3? Lego Boost?

kitwalker on 08/06/2019 - 21:03

I have 2 kids - a boy aged 10 and a girl aged 8.

This term their school has been taking advantage of the Education Department's STEMshare program.

They have loved using a range of robots to learn simple coding which has incorporated digital technologies into their classroom programs. This is their first exposure to 'coding'.

Since they have loved it so much and it is such a useful skill to develop as they grow up in the digital world, I would like to purchase something for home use to further their very basic skills.

I really don't have much of an idea of what is out there but have been looking online at the Lego Mindstorms Ev3 Robot (31313) and the more basic Lego Boost Creative Toolbox (17101).

I am wondering if anyone has used these and your thoughts on the two products, especially in relation to how age appropriate they may be for my kids. Or alternatively if there are other products that you may have used that you think may be more helpful for coding beginners?

Thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to give.

Education & Work Building Blocks Coding LEGO

Comments

  • mini2 on 08/06/2019 - 22:22
    +1

    You don't even need fancy hardware. Just start with Scratch to teach them how to think and sequence things then gradually move on to Arduino or BBC Micro:bit and they're C like OO so it has its use. My EV3 been sitting there gathering dust for a while now.

    • kitwalker on 10/06/2019 - 21:24

      Ok - I will look into Scratch as a starting point. What are Arduino and BBC Micro:bit? Would you be able to give me a link to something to read please? Complete novice here…

  • notfrodo on 08/06/2019 - 22:25

    Get them this https://www.amazon.com.au/Computer-Coding-Python-Projects-St… and an el cheapo computer. My son got tired of the limitations of Scratch and wanted to learn REAL programming. Also, I am a programmer by profession so I can easily help him when he gets stuck.

    Now, this approach is not recommended for kids who easily give up or dont want to read text and try stuff out. Have they uses Scratch at all? If not I would recommend that they do that. It is a great way to teach kids programming concepts. All you need is a computer and access to the internet. https://scratch.mit.edu/

    • kitwalker on 10/06/2019 - 21:22

      Thanks for your advice. Unlike you I am definitely not a professional programmer - although I am computer competent enough I have no programming experience! So they would need something for complete beginners as I am not likely to be able to help them with it.

      It sounds like scratch may be a good starting place before moving on to the python project then? I will look further into scratch. So is it a completely online experience? No gadgets/toys required? (Sorry if I have completely got it wrong - complete novice here)

      • notfrodo on 11/06/2019 - 07:59

        The problem I find with sets like Mindstorms is that there is a building component to it and all the programming is oriented towards to movement and detection. In my opinion, that seems like a dead end after they have built the set and done a couple of projects. Also these sets dont concentrate on core programming concepts.

        Scratch is a good jumping off platform - can learn core concepts before moving to an actual programming language.

  • [Deactivated] on 08/06/2019 - 23:25
    -2

    Buy them a raspberry pi zero for $11ish bucks including shipping or W for a little more. Lots of programming languages possible.

    • kitwalker on 10/06/2019 - 21:26

      Thanks for advice. I will look into Raspberry pi. Do I need other things to go with that? It looks complicated. I would need something that is completely self explanatory that an 8 year old beginner can figure out… does this fit that category?

  • RandomNinja on 08/06/2019 - 23:47

    I bought my son (7yo) the Boost set and he had a lot of fun going through the variety of builds and programming it to navigate various obstacles and/or making it do/say silly things. The Boost app is pretty good with integrating the instructions and programming, didn't need to provide much help. Sadly, he wasn't interested in creating his own builds after he 'finished' the set, so it's sitting around waiting for his siblings to become old enough to try.

    If your kids have done simple coding already, probably worth looking at something a tad more complex than Boost.

    • kitwalker on 10/06/2019 - 21:28

      Great - thanks for your feedback about the product. It sounds like he really enjoyed it. My son is the type who would use it and pull it apart and make something else. Can I ask how long your son used it for before he 'outgrew' it?
      Have you had any experience with Mindstorms or other coding? Did you move onto anything more complex for your son?

      • RandomNinja on 10/06/2019 - 23:34

        Not as long as I had hoped, only a few months as we'd work on it only during weekends. He'll occasionally go back and play with programming the last thing he built, but otherwise it's collecting dust.

        Didn't move on to anything else coding related, didn't seem like it was something he was passionate about sadly.

  • Anj1n on 09/06/2019 - 08:29

    My kids of similar age use

    scratch
    This is very popular

    Lego Boost
    Block programming
    There is an extension for Lego Boost in scratch scratch boost extension
    Most likely Python as well.

    Edison V2.0
    Small robot with Block, Boost or Python programming options.

    You can also look into codeclub

    The Pi with or without a robot shell might be the next step when they are bored with the above however I would think you need to be familiar with setting up a Pi yourself before providing it to a 8 or 10 year old. Take a look at PiHut camjam edukits.

    • kitwalker on 10/06/2019 - 21:32

      Thanks for the advice. There's a few things there for me to look into. The Edison V2.0 looks cool. I will have a further read of the webpage. So your kids use the Lego Boost in conjunction with Scratch. Have they/you had any experience with the Lego Mindstorms?

      • Anj1n on 10/06/2019 - 23:37

        The youngest is using Lego Boost with the Lego Boost App, not using scratch at this stage.
        The boost app appears well structured for visual coding starters that like building Lego.

        The eldest likes looking at the scratch community contribution programs and fiddles with the Edison.

        I looked at Lego Mindstorm but it was more involved and expensive.
        When you get one of these you don't know if kids will take to them or not, and the Mindstorm seemed too expensive to take that risk.

  • kitwalker on 08/07/2019 - 21:13

    Thank you so much to all who gave advice. We decided to begin with Scratch and the Lego Boost - got a good ozbargain deal when the ebay plus deals came up a few weeks back and the kids are loving it so far! Thanks :)

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