Ozobots

A wonderful gift

My son, Freddy, has high functioning autism. It sounds stereotypical, but he has an intense love of anything related to building, creating, and technology. He is, at times, extremely brilliant.

Freddy has had a Big Brother (Big Brothers Big Sisters) for several years. One Christmas, his Big gave him a tiny, beginners coding device called an Ozobot. I said, “Ozowhat?” at the time. But it was a wonderful gift. Freddy spent hours coding and playing. He even used it for a school science report. He generally struggles at school, but this project was full of enthusiasm! If that isn’t a great review of the product, I don’t know what is.

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Ozobot Bit

An Ozobot Bit is a small robot-like device that introduces children to simple coding The Bit is geared for kids 6+ and uses the concepts of coding during play time. I will try to explain how this delightful bit of a robot works. Henry could regale you with many facts and tips and ideas, but you will have to settle for me.

The Bit is designed to be used with or without screen coding.

You can code with colors… each color in a design (which is made with markers or stickers) commands the Bit to speed up, spin, zig zag, turn right or left, and more. Grab a piece of paper, a set of markers, a Bit and your imagination. You will soon have the Bit following your every wish.

A Bit can also be programmed on a computer or tablet with OzoBlockly, a visual way to design commands for your little robot. OzoBlockly is a drag-and-drop code editor with levels for everyone, even pre-readers. Once you have your creativity saved, you can load the code to Bit by just holding the bot to your screen.

Ozobot Evo

We have not yet tried Bit’s sibling, Evo. But Freddy and I have decided to up his game and Henry wants to try it, too. Their Evos will be arriving soon and they will be able to start their own little club. The Evo is geared for ages 8+ and has more advanced coding possibilities than the Bit.

Evo is Bluetooth enabled and an app for the little bot is available for both Android and iOS devises. The bot has proximity censors and tricks, ie Evo follows your finger, flashing bright LED lights. You can transform Evo into an instrument, then play sounds and write songs simply by covering its sensors. Using the app, you can work with the Evo Experience Pack to Drive, and Play Games. The app and Evo together are full of ways to play, create, and code. You can customize the bot and you can chat with friends and share your Evo Drive sequences.

Extras

I spent some time exploring the options for the Ozobots and I was delighted by a variety of options. There are “accessories,” including skins for the little bots to dress them up as The Hulk or a unicorn. There are packages with stickers and markers for making color codes. AND, there are teacher packs for use in the classroom. The packs include a Bot Boot Camp. I like that. A bot boot camp strikes my fancy. There is even a large pack of 18 Ozobots with a classroom kit. Pricey, of course, but… think classroom fundraiser to get those young STEM students going with coding games!

Awards

Ozobot Evo won the Toy Insider’s Holiday Toy Award, Academic’s Choice Brain Toy, National Parenting Products, PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice, and TWICE Picks awards. Evo also got some rave reviews from TIME, Mashable, TechCrunch, USA Today, Wired, and Reader’s Digest. In a few days, I’m sure I’ll be adding Freddy’s endorsement.

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If you want to read more about any of the kids’ journeys, click on their name under categories to the right –>

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