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Thought 35: Educational Toys

Starting thinking about how to learn new things and found that nothing really beat kids toys for getting started on how to learn. However, it took a bit to overcome the stigma of they're kids toys. Kids toys have many things going for them over more adult how-to videos and projects. First they tend to be safer, nothing like learning on how things go together then plastic bits that break on your skin rather than sharp metal bit covered in red blood. Second they much more colorful than brown or gray. No idea who thought the world should be gray, but bright color are much easy to find when looking for new bits. And finally they are far more hands on-discovery than a how-to video. When books and video there's still the fine tuning that needs to be learned by doing. The toys have this built in to some degree.

Why was I thinking about this? Well, I only somewhat understand the mechanics behind a multi-motor robotic arm, so I decided to order the cheapest I could find. It was from a site specialized in educational toys. Suddenly, nostalgia kicked in and I found myself a child, thinking about all the fun things I could do the experiments, toys, and kits. Reality of adulthood struck back and reminded me that I do many of things already, just in a slightly different package. Maybe it is the packaging and bright colors and all of the excitement that makes them seem better than 'hobbyist' kits. Nah, I just want to stay a child!

Keep reading, the arm should be here soon, and I'll have to dissect it and re-wire it to work with the robot already in progress.

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Laser Pegs said…
Such a nice collections/information about toys,which give us more smile educational toys, fisher price building toys, kids building kit, creative construction toys and many more...
August 17, 2010 at 3:55 AM
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