Kid Tech Crowdfunding December / January

It's time to look at current crowdfunding campaigns for kids technology. This month there are wearables for kids and tweens and a robot kit for teens as well as tech books that will appeal to younger children.

You can read more about backing kids technology crowdfunded projects if you'd like to learn more about how crowdfunding works and what you should look out for. And don't forget to sign up to our newsletter if you want to get regular updates on what's happening in kids technology.

Wearables

Wearables for kids are increasing in popularity and dokiWatch is looking to further that trend. It's available a brightly coloured kid-sized smart watch with camera, GPS, safety and fitness tracker capability build in.

dokiWatch uses a SIM card, unlike a lot of adults 'smart watches' so kids can make calls from their wrist without needing another device. Video calling is also supported.

The watch runs a variant of the Android operating system and has a touchscreen and Bluetooth and Wifi support so it looks like a pretty capable package.

Many kids smart watches are really just phone/watch combinations. This looks like a proper wearable device.

The inclusion of fitness tracking capability is definitely a good idea, it's a pain for kids to have separate device for this. Kids and families are definitely interested in tracking and encouraging physical activity.

The watch is designed for smaller wrists 130 - 180mm. My 9 year old son's wrist measures 125mm so an adult smart watch would be huge on him. This is an important consideration. I'm put off adult smart watches for myself because they are so huge on my 150mm wrist!

I think a smart watch is much more practical than a phone for active young kids who are starting to be independent. They can't easily leave it behind or drop it! And it's right there on their wrist when they need it.

Also in the wearables category:

• Playcelets are kids light up bracelets that support social interaction and child safety. The goal is to encourage outdoor play by making it easier to arrange and allowing parents to track their children.
  

Robots and Electronics

The Infinity is a new computing device for children. It's just a prototype at the moment but it's looking for crowdfunding on Indiegogo to take the idea forward.

The Infinity is a hybrid tablet / netbook computer for kids with some really interesting features.

It's modular so parts can be upgraded independently. It can be taken apart and put together so kids can understand what it is. You can even put a Raspberry Pi inside it.

It's also part of the One Education programme which aims to get technology to children in need.

The Infinity is open and can run Linux, Android, Windows or Chromium. It's default the Android-based Infinity OS.

There are some really interesting ideas in the Infinity project.

Thimble is an electronics subscription service for teens and adults too - it's aimed at makers who need a bit of help getting started. The target age is 13+.

Thimble aims to provide a learning experience for its subscribers rather than just a hardware kit.

The first month of the subscription is a simple Arduino-based wifi robot kit. It requires soldering to assemble and takes you through to programming an iOS or Android app to control the robot. This is a nice feature - the communication between a device and a robot is often omitted from beginner projects and is important to understand.

You can choose to back the project to just get the Thimble robot, or you can choose a level with additional months and further electronics projects with educational material.

Making

• RoboMustache bamboo robots are laser-cut models that can be assembled into poseable robots. 

Books

• Detective Dot books aim to promote diversity and environmental awareness in children. Detective Dot is an 8 year old coder who uses computer science to solve problems. This one is ending soon so get in quick if you want to back it. 
• The Little Designer is a book about 3D printing your own toys for kids aged 4-10. The book aims to teach kids about 3D design and printing. 

App Toys

• Magik Play combines wooden building block toys with iPad apps for hybrid play. 
• SwapBots are modular collectable toys that are used with an app and augmented reality technology. Kids swap parts to make new characters which can then be used in games. 

Gadgets

• ikydz is an internet safety device that can be used to create filters and controls to regulate kids internet access.