Integrate Technology into Play

Introducing Blue-Bot® toy

A Bluetooth programmable floor robot that integrates technology into play - a wonderful way to engage and inspire children.

Blue-Bot® offers engagement, flexibility, hours of fun and is a wonderful way to integrate technology into learning for preschool aged children.

These cute Bluetooth enabled floor robots can be wirelessly  controlled with your computer/tablet or programmed manually by using the buttons on top of the robot. This is a perfect starting point for teaching control, directional language and programming to young children.

Blue-Bot® has a clear shell so children are intrigued by the components inside. It offers simple, child-friendly gridded mat layouts & components for children to play with, from Farm Yard mats, Shape & Number mats, Changeable Mazes and Transparent Grid mats for you to add your own images underneath. Children can even build their own unique obstacle courses on any flat surface with various resources to play with the Bots as they can operate on any flat surface.

How does Blue-Bot® toy work?

 Children can work in pairs or small groups to set challenges for each other. They can decide on the Bot’s starting point and give a destination, e.g. (using the Farm Mat) “Begin at the Farmhouse and get to the pig’s den.” The child given the challenge can think about how they could get the Blue-Bot to its given destination one step at a time by entering the movement commands with the arrows either turning 45/90 degrees or moving forward and backward.

They are not allowed to touch the Blue-Bot® once they’ve set its start position. When they press the sequence of commands (movements) and then press ‘Go’, it will run their full program/algorithm. As it runs, they can watch it both on the screen and on the floor. A simple extension to this activity is to set obstacles, i.e. blocks that can’t be driven over or pathways to follow.

You can also use the Tactile reader a unique and extremely fun way to program Blue-Bot. Just place your instructions on the tile reader, press go and see Blue-Bot complete the program. 

We tested Blue-Bot out and the children loved it! The excitement they got when the Bot got to the destination, is a wonderful way to boost children’s confidence in the classroom and encourage them to engage with each other and improve their critical thinking to solve problems associated with the commands. Later on, children can be challenged with fewer Bot movements to get to their destinations faster.

Take a look at how the children engaged with these cute Blue-Bots®:

We put them to the test, with an excited group of pre-schoolers, and here’s the result.

It is really easy to use and the iOS/Android App is freely downloadable to connect to tablets, or you can just download the Windows and Mac software to connect to your desktop/computer. Blue-Bots® are also rechargeable so there’s no need to worry about replacing costly batteries. The Blue-Bot® Docking Station can charge multiple Blue-Bots® at the same time

To make things fun and easy in the classroom, Blue-Bot names can be changed within the Blue-Bot app settings if more than one Blue-Bot is being used in one area to give each Bot its own unique character.

The activities associated with Blue-Bot® provide excellent support for children in learning computing skills, applying computational thinking and engaging in open-ended problem solving, while having lots of fun and interaction at the same time. We want your children to experience all the benefits Blue-Bot offers, so we’ve put together a list of ideas on how to play and learn with them:

Farm Set up

Using two bots simultaneously to challenge children to see which Bot can get to the given destination first is a wonderful way to encourage children to work in teams and solve problems together. Other resources can be placed on or next to the Farm Mat to add some 3D elements to the set up. Children can also play with these resources within the set up while they wait their turn and engage in the story being told or played out together.

Get your Farm yard grid mat here

Here are some resources you can add to enhance this set up:

• Tree Blocks
• Jumbo Farm animals
• Old McDonald Felt Shapes to place on the grids 

You can also use the Treasure Island Mat for a similar set up:

Along with Jumbo Ocean Creatures and Monkeys in a Tree Felt Shape

Obstacle Course Set up

Using Resources to create an obstacle course for the Bots to move through is an excellent way to get children to play together and create their own playground to engage with and be creative and inventive. No mat is needed and the possibilities are endless.

Here’s some resources you can use for this set up:

• Unit Blocks
• Sand Blocks
• Block Mates Farm Animals
• Block Mates Construction Vehicles
• Block Mates Dinosaurs

Transparent Grid Mat Set up

This Transparent matt with a Blue-Bot® Grid enables you and your children to add anything underneath it, move it around and arrange it according to different stories and scenarios. You can tie this in to your planning to follow the children's interests.. Our Felt shapes are perfect for this mat as their hairy textures tend to stick to the Mat due to the static electricity, which makes it easier to control when the children are leaning over and touching or moving the mat during play time.

Get your transparent grid mat here

Choose from a selection of felt stories to add to your mat:

You can also use natural resources like dried & flattened leaves & flowers under mat or children can bring their own images/photos, or design their own treasure maps, to place under the mat.

We hope you’ll be able to experience this wonderful resource and all the fun and learning opportunities it can bring.

Grab your Blue-Bot® Bundle here