Tech Will Save Us – Mover Kit is a great way to introduce children to programming their own designs and invent trillions of ways to bring the motion sensor, compass, LED lights of the wearable to life. The Mover Kit blends fun and imagination with the creative and technical STEM skills kids need for their future. This is suitable for aged 8 and above.
You get one Mover board (the brain), one Sensors & Lights, Mover casing & battery, yellow USB cable, three different accessories (snapband, Velcro strap and lanyard) and instructions. This kit is made from excellent quality materials. There is definitely an educational benefit for children to be able to see the different components (LEDs, motion compass, microcontroller etc.) rather than experiencing electronics products as black boxes. The accessories are very colourful and attractive that will appeal to children. You will only need to use one of the accessories at a time so it is important to not lose the others.
The Mover Kit is intended for simple assembly by children. First, the child starts to build the mover by attaching the Mover board onto the mover casing, followed by the Sensors & Lights. Then connect the battery cable onto the Mover board. Mr K had no problems connecting all the parts together but did struggle to get the casing to close properly. It took less than 5 minutes to build it. The casing closes with a stretchy silicon loop which I hope is tough enough to withstand the stress. I don’t think it is easy to get a replacement for the loop. You may now add your own accessories. Mr K loves to use the snapband as it looks so much cooler. The Velcro strap is good for strapping the Mover on an object whilst the lanyard is great to hang around the neck.
The Mover has a rechargeable battery and is charged via a USB cable. The rechargeable battery is housed in the base part of the case. The on/off/app switch button is found in the centre of the Mover which needs to be pressed through the silicon cover. It is not the easiest thing for a child to press.
The Mover Kit comes with two built-in apps that you can use out the box without any programming. Press the on/off button for 3 seconds, it is the Activity app which rewards movement with light shows. Then press on/off button again to change app and it is the Bike Light app which has a red and a white light depending on the orientation of the device.
Before your child starts coding, it requires you to download the Bolt app onto your PC. It is free to download. Then it is ready to communicate between your Mover and PC. Through the website, it allows your child to program via a drag and drop app. Mr K finds it easy to use the coding tools and it synchronises between the Mover and PC very quickly. We didn’t have any problems with it.
This Mover kit is a great starter kit for beginners who want to learn about simple programming and to create fun projects with the coding. It has everything you need in a very neat setup. It does have limitations for more experienced children as they won’t be able to advance to more complicated programming. Overall it is a nice kit that makes a great gift. It is available in John Lewis, Selfridges, Tech Will Save Us and Amazon.
Do check out their DIY Electro Dough kit too.
Watch Mr K show you how he used his Mover kit: https://youtu.be/MRLbAoh7gx0
Disclosure: We received the sample for the purposes of writing this review, however all thoughts and opinions remain our own.
This is such a great idea. My nephew is showing a real interest in coding.