Technology Will Save Us - Create Something Great Using Science!

Technology Will Save Us make really exciting kits for children that mix craft, science, technology and coding with play and fun. Each kit actually creates something useful and clever that your child can be proud of, while supporting their STEM learning in school and stretching their own understanding of the world and how it works. I'm a big fan.

We've been sent the Electro Dough Kit (4+) and the Thirsty Plant Kit (8+), and we also have the brand new Mover Kit (8+), so we'll take a look at that too. Each of the kits are housed in an attractive box and require no exotic extra ingredients, making them ideal gifts.

The Electro Dough Kit (4+)

You'll need the dough itself and 4 x AA batteries for the battery pack, but inside the kit are all of the other things you'll need to create a multitude of electrical circuits with lights and sounds.

You can follow the instructions and make your own simple salt dough, or you can just use play dough and move straight on to the next bit. If you choose to make your own it will need adult input and supervision as it's heated on the hob, but it only costs about 25p and takes 5 minutes to make.

The dough is conductive, but an excellent resistor, as well as being a really easy way to connect wires. Your young scientist can use it to learn all about electrical circuits.

My boys really enjoyed this. They both understood almost instantly that they had to make a circle, or circuit, for it to work.

It didn't take long before they were experimenting without any assistance from me. Discovering where they'd made errors and working it out for themselves, and exploring to see what was possible. They really enjoyed it. I've told them they need to work out how to make a switch for the buzzer next time!

The Thirsty Plant Kit (8+) is really clever. Everything you need to make a solar-powered moisture sensor which will emit a warning when your plant needs watering.

We haven't yet played with this one as we have no plants at the moment. It includes plaster of Paris and electrical components to make the sensor and the everything needed to make a really attractive transparent solar panel.

As with all of the Tech Will Save Us Kits, online there are extra instructions to modify or experiment further with your equipment - you can even use this kit to set off a water bomb!

The Mover Kit (8+) is all about electronics and circuitry, but shows just how easy it is to attach circuits together and make something complex.

The whole set clips together in well under 15 minutes and you have a motion sensor with several multicoloured lights. My 9 year old son built his under the table in the Space Station for space week. It recharges and is programmed via USB connector.

You can then go online and program your Mover to have behave differently and have completely different reactions to it's original settings. A rainbow every time you use it as a lightsaber? A white ring of light each time you jump? A chain of different effects for a whole workout or playing session? The Mover will do what you tell it to do.

When you get your Mover Kit it already has a heartbeat and a bike light programmed into it. Online their are loads more codes that you can flash download to your Mover to instruct it to imitate a campfire, show a rainbow or a pokeball, or you can adapt (or hack) the code and instruct the 8 lights to behave however you wish, including in reaction to different movement of the unit.

It's so simple that almost anyone can do it without any prior understanding, but it teaches the basics of how code works - as a series of commands. 
 

The Mover Kit is gorgeous, and even comes with 3 different methods of attachment which are all excellent quality. It's surprisingly comfortable to wear and switch between different apps or programs.

Tech Will Save Us was founded in 2012 by Bethany Koby and Daniel Hirschmann. They were on a mission to inspire and empower kids by creating toys that they can build and code themselves. I think they've done an excellent job and the end products are fun and really practical, with built in longevity as your child becomes more fluent and attempts more complicated projects - not something that will go in a drawer and be forgotten.

Tech Will Save Us kits are available via the Tech Will Save Us website and select major retailers including John Lewis (UK).There are many more besides the Thirsty Plant Kit £24.99, Electro Dough Kit £22.99 and the Mover Kit £59.99. Free UK delivery on orders over £39.

In a survey of 1,000 parents of children under 12 in the UK, carried out by 3Gem for Tech Will Save Us, nearly a third (31%) of UK parents said their kids are able to programme and code using coding languages such as Python, JavaScript, SQL or PHP. In addition, 66% of parents also admitted that their child/children are more proficient at coding and programming than them and only 24% can code themselves. (I actually think that's a bit high!).
54% of parents think it’s important that they learn how to programme, with 14% saying they have plans to learn. 77% of parents think it’s important for their child to both study STEM subjects and learn to code and 43% of parents are concerned that their child or children won’t be prepared for the future. When it comes to gender equality, 32% of parents felt that boys are given more encouragement than girls to pursue STEM subjects and careers.
As a result of gender disparity, 22% of parents would actively discourage their daughter from pursuing a career in STEM altogether, but 49% would encourage their daughter to engage in STEM subjects because they feel it’s important that more women pursue careers in tech, and 30% have faith that gender equality will be achieved by the time they join the workforce.(Let's hope so!)

I received all 3 of my Tech Will Save Us Kits for review.