From our friends at T3: These are the best AR toys on the market today and they are guaranteed to amuse you and your smartphone plenty, while also not take up too much of your time or raid your wallet like a pirate captain. Many of these toys are not just AR-infused either, but injected with educational value as well, meaning that their owner can get smarter while they have insane fun, too.

Why this matters: Augmented reality (AR) and its cousin virtual reality (VR) have become important teaching tools in the K12 classroom, allowing teachers to lead students digitally beyond the classroom walls for authentic learning.  With prices as low as $13.00, these educational AR toys can be a reality in any classroom.  Learn which toys  offer the most engaging educational content and associated apps by reading the full report at t3.com. 

The DJI RoboMaster S1 rover looks like a miniature tank, but acts like a clever Trojan horse for kids – it's a way to make education a little more fun.

It's the first ground-based DJI drone built by the company behind the DJI Mavic Air, a popular flying drone that got our recommended award in 2018. The new tank-like robot has rugged all-terrain style wheels, armor for competitions, and a gimbal-mounted turret.

The RoboMaster S1 features brushless motors with Mecanum wheels, allowing the rover to move in all directions. Users are able to assemble the RoboMaster S1 per instructions or with custom hardware using Pulse Width Modulation control ports.

While piloting the DJI RoboMaster S1, you can get a live video feed directly from the FPV camera that's mounted to the stabilizing gimbal. The gimbal also has an infrared beam and non-toxic gel bead blaster built onto it. 

There are a total of 21 sensors onboard, allowing the S1 to map its surroundings, identify objects, follow people, recognize hand gestures, recognize and respond to sounds, and acknowledge when it's been hit by another drone in competition.

As the RoboMaster S1 is about education, there's a dedicated RoboMaster app to help new users get acquainted with the robot and what it's capable of. And with support for Python and Scratch, coders can experiment with new ways to control the robot. 

Within the app, there are Road to Mastery and RoboAcademy programs to guide users through customizing the rover through coding. Coding allows tuning of the hardware as well as custom responses to things like gestures, sounds, preset Vision Markers (numbers, letters, and characters the camera can recognize), or other interactions, such as collisions. 

The RoboMaster S1 launches June 12 for $499 in the US, with educational pricing available for both students and teachers. International pricing and release date information isn't available just yet. In July, a PlayMore Kit will also launch with a dedicated controller, extra gel beads with a container, and a battery.

cross posted at techradar.com

A few years ago, I got my first LEGO set for my birthday. At first, I didn’t know what to do. But after learning how to build the set, I really got into LEGO! Building with LEGO bricks became what I did all day, every day. Now, you can ask anyone who has known me for awhile: I love LEGO. I used to build with LEGO bricks alone, but now it's me and all my friends. Besides helping me make friends, LEGO has taught me more about history and art. 

Not long after getting my first LEGO set, my mom took me to my first Brick Fair, a LEGO fan event, in Edison, New Jersey. There I saw my first MOC (pronounced mock) built by Brickmania, a popular LEGO artist in my area. MOC stands for My Own Creation. MOCs are when people build things out of LEGO bricks that don’t have directions. They build MOCs from their own brains. I really enjoyed seeing all the talented LEGO artists’ MOCs. My favorite type of MOC were the historical MOCs, especially of battle scenes. I like them so much, I started to make them.

When I got home, I started MOCs that replicated moments in history. Making these MOCs has inspired to learn as much as I can about history, so I can build historically accurate MOCs. Currently, I’m working on a large MOC on the Battle of the Somme, an important battle on the Somme river in France during World War I. 

Through building MOCs, LEGO has helped me learn a lot about history and how to be a better artist. History is important to learn because the only way to improve the future is by learning from the past. If you want the kids of today to make a better future for everyone, they first have to know the problems of the past. LEGO helps me learn by making learning about the past fun and letting me show what I learned about history in an artistic way that hopefully inspires others to learn along with me. My goal is to my Battle of Somme MOC as cool as possible so I can inspire the next wave of kids like me to become historians and even artists. 

Being a good artist is important to making good MOCs because you have to tell a story to people without using words -- the way you arrange your LEGO brickss has to tell the story. I take great care to make my LEGO MOCs tell the story of the battles I learn about. 

Consider challenging your students to make a MOC next time they learn something in your class. Not only will they be able to show you what they’ve learned in a fun way, you’ll be helping them become a better artist and historian, too.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES  FROM TECHLEARNING.COM 

Top 10 Ways Toys Can Teach STEAM

Motivating Reluctant STEAM Learners: Changing how you assess can inspire students

Crazy Gears Provides Fun Introduction to Science and Engineering

Report from ASCD: Sessions Covered, Classroom Coding, Leadership Strategies and More

Top Ten Makerspace Favorites

Fun Characters Draw Kids Into Coding App

POWERUP Toys (Toy Fair Booth #2789), the creator of the first smartphone-controlled paper airplane motor kit, is introducing three new products at Toy Fair 2019 – POWERUP 4.0, POWERUP RACERS, and OKO Multi View.

The POWERUP 4.0 is a durable propulsion motor that universally adapts to almost any paper airplane design and transforms it into a flying machine. Pilots (Individuals ages 14+) launch, steer, and land their planes using their Bluetooth-connected device and the POWERUP App (available for iOS and Android).  The POWERUP 4.0 will be available online this fall. MSRP: $59.99

Children ages 8+ can take the road, water, or air by storm with the new POWERUP RACERS Motorized Origami Vehicles. The small, versatile propulsion motor transforms a paper creation into a motorized car, boat, or airplane - all using the same motor. Children fold their own paper car, boat, or airplane out of a sheet of paper, clip on the fully-charged POWERUP RACERS motor, and they are ready to drive, float, or fly their creations. The kit - which comes with a propulsion motor, three folding templates, wheels, and fastening clips - can be used to teach aerodynamics and physics in the STEM classroom. The POWERUP RACERS will be available online this fall. MSRP: $24.99

With OKO Multi View, the newest multi-use smartphone accessory, children insert their smartphone into OKO Multi View and wear it like goggles to transform the phone’s camera into an Augmented Reality tool or use it like entry-level binoculars with capture capabilities. If they find a scene they love, they can save it forever by taking a picture or video using their device – without removing the device from the goggles. The OKO Multi View will be available online this spring, MSRP: $29.99

To see these products in action, visit POWERUP Toys at Toy Fair 2019 in booth #2789. To see the full line of POWERUP Toys motors and accessories, visit: www.poweruptoys.com.

With National Engineers Week taking place this February 17-23, it's a great time to explore products that budding engineers will love to play with and learn from. The toys below are grounded in STEM learning and foster creative problem solving and building techniques that are the foundation for children with an early engineering mindset.  

Pendulonium™ STEM Challenge

The Pendulonium STEM Challenge from Learning Resources challenges children's engineering, problem solving, and critical thinking skills as they play around with early physics concepts such as force and momentum in search of the ideal solution.

• WHERE TO BUY: Amazon
• AGES: 5+ 
• MSRP: $19.99

Gears! Gears! Gears! Machines in Motion

With the Gears! Gears! Gears! Machines in Motion from Learning Resources, kids engineer their own playtime fun with the help of creative, open-ended building activities. Kids can build their own versions of numerous different interactive machines and vehicles.

• WHERE TO BUY: Amazon
• AGES: 4+
• MSRP: $39.99

1-2-3 Build It™ Rocket-Train-Helicopter

Your budding engineer will love using these mix-and-match pieces to build three different modes of transportation—a rocket, a train, or a helicopter (one at a time). Use the play screwdriver to put the large, durable pieces where they go. Great for learning early STEM skills. Built plane measures 7½”L x 4”H.

• WHERE TO BUY: Amazon
• AGES: 2+
• MSRP: $19.99

Plus-Plus: Open Play Tube (70 Pieces) 

This 70 piece travel-friendly tube is a screen-free boredom buster for the whole family. Use the enclosed idea guide to build a spinning top, people, trees, flowers and more! Or, use your imagination and build in 2D or 3D. It's one shape with endless possibility!

• WHERE TO BUY: Target (Online Only)
• AGES: 4+
• MSRP: $39.99

Today, tech is a kid’s entertainment and learning buddy. It’s their ticket to their future tomorrow.  At CES 2019, the Kids at Play Summit heads into its 10th year of exploring kids’ relationship to technology.

While there are as many unknowns as ever, one thing’s for sure: kids are developing the skills as grownups. Play, as it always has been, is great prep for growing up as a critical thinker and problem solver.

Here’s what we’re seeing on the horizon for 2019: 

1. PREPPING FOR THE FUTURE:  

From toddlerdom on, kids are growing up swiping, tapping, and now talking to machines. As we study behaviors we learn about creating great interfaces for kids. As technology improves, kids are learning empathy and social skills from products as well as the harder core subjects. There’s also a focus on learning by watching — just look at how much time kids spend on YouTube, for example.

2. STEAM – CODING:

Interest in coding and STEAM-related activities as an important skillset has not waned. Learning cause and effect— having the agency to iterate, to learning to problem solve from failures — are some of the things that coding teaches kids. We’re also seeing “entrepreneurial skills” becoming equally important.

Other companies on the show floor are personalizing engaging play that combines coding skills and creativity. For example, Coding Critters help kids as young as preschool learn about coding through storybook adventures and playsets. Meanwhile, Artie the new coding and drawing robot, helps older kids create simple and complex designs using scratch coding.

3. CONNECTED PLAY:

Kids are moving from home to school to outdoor play and the exectation is that tech will be their companion. Razor, scooter and Minelab, a kid-sized metal detector, are just two examples. And Kano’s popular Harry Potter Wand is the perfect example of a tech toy that travels anywhere.

These all bring together our goal to have well-rounded children that are connected to their passions and their families.

With tech and toys becoming more a part of our everyday, it can feel overwhelming to navigate the products out on the market. Neighborhood toy store owners curate the best product selection to help parents, grandparents and caregivers navigate the products out on the market.

Kimberly Mosley is president of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA). Founded in 1992, ASTRA is an international not-for-profit trade organization that serves more than 1,800 independent retailers, manufacturers and sales representatives in the specialty toy industry. It can be found at booth 43967 in the Sands.

The Toy Association has released a new report, “Decoding STEM/STEAM,” to help tackle the challenges, stigmas, and myths related to STEM/STEAM learning. The report aims to:

• Shed light on the meaning and history of STEM/STEAM
• Eradicate myths and misconceptions about STEM and STEAM education
• Drive innovations in science- and math-based toys
• Help parents better guide their children’s learning

Additionally, the report explores how role models, stereotypes, and parental attitudes and anxieties about math and other STEM topics can influence a child’s desire and motivation to learn, as well as the important role played by the arts in empowering solutions to scientific problems.

[350+ Real-World Activities Make Math Relevant]