Over the summer it’s time for us teachers to prepare for our new class and the year ahead. Over the next few weeks I’m going to put spotlights on particular topics or themes, highlighting some apps which can support learning.
I’ve made a few searches on the AppStore and picked out a few apps which look like good fun for early years and ones which can develop knowledge and understanding in this topic.
Pettson’s Inventions
This might not be a robot app, but it’s certainly an app about design and making something work. Children work with Pettson and Findus to invent machines to carry out certain tasks. The challenges become quite tricky, and it’s a process of trial and error in this problem solving app. If anything, the children just enjoy putting pieces together and seeing how much of their creation they can connect and make work.
Talking BRIAN
A communication app with a robot children recognise from TV adverts and toys. Talking BRIAN repeats what you say and you can record your own sounds. There are built in mini-games as part of this app, but the main focus for me would be the recording of your voice and practising language use.
BeeBot Pyramid
We’ve seen the original BeeBot and it’s app, but have you seen BeeBot Pyramid? It’s an Egyptian themed BeeBot adventure suitable for infant coding. This is a great way to apply skills taught when using programmable toys. It’s good to see BeeBot getting out and about!
MakeWonder Suite
A step on for BeeBot users, this is Dash and Dot. The apps are free but you do need the programmable toys. They connect to your iPad via Bluetooth and children code the robots using the apps. Go and Path are both great apps for infant coding and robot work. Go acts like a remote controlled car and you also control the lights and sounds as you drive. Path lets your draw a route for the robot to follow and sequence actions along that route.
For the musical ones in the class, there’s also Xylo. With Dash you connect a xylophone and write the music on the app. Dash then plays this out for you, also offering some movements and direction for your to code whilst he is playing.
A.L.E.X.
Here’s one last robot app to finish this post with. Here is a robot with some swag for kids to code. No accessories needed, A.L.E.X. is on screen with a range of levels and difficulties. It’s a great app to practise those skills taught in your infant coding lessons.
Enabling Environments 
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