Cody Block is a “screen-free wooden toy that helps children three to nine learn the basics of computer programming through play”, according to a Zurich company called Qubs Toys which has just launched the idea on Kickstarter.
It is centred around a small motorised wooden car which drives along until it meets one of the 16 wooden blocks.
These blocks act as directional commands to the car – for example, there is a ‘turn left’ block – the car is actually responding to 125kHz RFID tags buried in the blocks and the car runs on four AA cells.
The design is inspired by classic wooden toys and Montessori philosophy, and provides gender-neutral play, said Qubs.
The company and concept comes from Hayri Bulman in Switzerland. “I want to bring children closer to coding,” he said, “I hope Cody Block will help them understand how to think and problem solve, all of this while having fun.”
As usual, the Kickstarter campaign has various funding levels and potential rewards, and there is no guarantee of anything in return for your cash, so caveat spem emptor.
Source: electronicsweekly
