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Educational Gift Idea // Best STEM Gift for 4+
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Jun 19, 2024
Looking for the perfect educational gift idea that's both fun AND educational? Here is my son's current favorite! Educational Gift Guide 2023 Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWeB47J-K-YavFnK5aD9jEDaxcoA9EXe- RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE VIDEO: 🤖 mTiny — https://bit.ly/3MA10ZZ 📖 Raising Spiritual Champions — https://amzn.to/46zu8aT ✨Check out my Amazon shop for more homeschool resources and recommendations: https://blessedhomeschool.com/amazon ********************************************* Hey there! I’m Sara, and I’m a teacher-turned-homeschooling mom to 4 kiddos (including a set of twins!). I balance homeschooling while working full-time from home, and am so thankful you are here. I love sharing about homeschooling on my blog, Blessed Homeschool, where you’ll find tips, resources, and curriculum reviews. Whether you are a newbie or a veteran, I hope you will leave inspired and equipped with what you find. MORE VIDEOS YOU MIGHT LIKE Holiday Homeschooling Ideas — https://youtu.be/0EOB-uSS5ok
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hi guys, I'm Sarah from Blessed Home School and today I'm excited to share with you my preschoolers
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favorite educational toy that I think you should add to your Christmas gift giving list this year
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if you have a four to eight year old you're shopping for and make sure you stick around until the
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end because I'm also sharing a new book I'm reading that you might want to add to your wish list as well
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Let's go. Thanks again for tuning in. Again, if you don't know me, my name is Sarah and I love
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sharing tips, resources, and encouragement for homeschool moms, both here and on my blog
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blessed homeschool.com. Before I go much further, I want to mention that this video is a
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collaboration with some other amazing homeschool moms who are going to be sharing their favorite educational toys that are perfect for gift-giving this holiday season
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I'm sure you will get a lot of great ideas from all of the videos. I'm going to leave a
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link to the playlist in the description below, so make sure you you check it out after watching and if someone sent you here from another channel welcome I'd
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love to know who sent you so let me know in the comments so I've got four kids and we are in our seventh
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year of homeschooling my oldest son is 12 I have twin girls that are 10 and my youngest is four
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turning five in about two weeks Thanksgiving is this week so of course we are seeing all sorts of
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black Friday ads and getting toy catalogs in the mail and I have done minimal Christmas shopping yet
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I really do love Christmas shopping. I love giving gifts and trying to find just the right gift for someone
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And it's such a blessing to be able to see my kids get excited over their gifts. But what I don't love is spending so much money these days on plastic toys that have little educational value that my kids might love, but the novelty will wear off in a couple of weeks or the toy will get broken or the pieces will get lost. And I end up regretting wasting my money. I much prefer spending my money on toys and gifts that I can
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can see have long-term value that my kids will love and big bonus if there's an educational
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aspect to them where my kids are learning something new and gaining some skills as they play
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So that's exactly what I'm sharing today with you for my pick for the best educational gift
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to get this season for your kids. Isn't it funny how there are so many toys and resources out
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there and I think sometimes that I've seen it all, but then I learned about something new to me
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and wonder how in the world I hadn't seen it sooner. So maybe you guys have seen this
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toy maybe not but it was new to me so I've worked with the company make block in the
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past on a blog post review on one of their coding robots the mbot neo and my son
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and I had a blast building this robot and learning to use some of the block-based
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coding software to program it if you haven't seen my video on this definitely go
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check it out after this one the company reached out the other week and asked if I'd
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like to review their smart robot for preschoolers called n tiny my preschooler got
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really excited because honestly he was a little jealous that he didn't have his own robot
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when my son was building his and I was intrigued because this toy was supposed to be a screen-free
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way to teach coding concepts to kids and most of the coding that I've seen is through projects
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my older kids have done and it's all been screen-based so I was honestly curious what screen-free
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coding meant and how this would work so we've already been using and playing with this toy
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and my four-year-old can't get enough so while it has already been unboxed technically, I want to show you what exactly comes with this toy
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how you can use it, and why I am recommending it as a great gift. The M Tiny is an adorable toy
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that uses a tap pen and little input cards to teach coding basics to kids. It's recommended for
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ages 4 plus, and I'd say about 4 to 8 years old is probably what it's best for. After using
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this with my son, I think it's a fantastic way to introduce some STEM
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concepts to your kids and they're just going to think they're playing, but they're actually learning
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That's the best kind of toy, right? So before I show you exactly what your kids will do with this
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toy, you might be wondering, why do my preschoolers or my young elementary age kids, why should
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they even learn how to code? Why is it important so early on? Well, what is coding? Coding is a
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language. It's being able to communicate with a computer to give it instructions on what you want
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it to do. And learning this language has numerous benefits. coding teaches our kids problem solving
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It helps them develop resilience, persistence, use of logical thinking. These are all great skills for life in general
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and anything they want to pursue in the future, even if it's not specifically a coding type job
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But so many jobs do use coding nowadays, so it's a really valuable skill to develop
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And they're a long ways off probably from the job world, but introducing our kids to coding concepts early on
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can also give them an interest in it. And it's more of a chance to develop these skills
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as they get older. Now with preschoolers, we're gonna approach teaching coding differently than we would an older child
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We don't expect them to learn Python or Java or anything like that
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but we can use tools, toys, and activities that build a foundation in coding concepts
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and help them begin to learn to think like a programmer. And the best way to teach preschoolers
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and young kids coding concepts is by using hands-on games and fun interactive toys like the M-Type
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like the M-Tiny. And as I found, with toys like this, you don't even need a computer
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to begin teaching coding to your little kids. So let's take a look at what you will get
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with the M-Tiny robot and how you can use it with your kids and in your homeschool
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Okay, so here is the M-Tine robot. It is out of the box because like I said
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we been using it we been playing with it and my son has just really been enjoying it already It comes with a joystick and then this charging cable which is nice because it has two little cords attached to it
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So you can plug it in and charge both the robot and the little joystick at once
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And there's no assembly you're required. It's pre-assembled right out of the box
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You can open and play. And my son was really ready to get going with this when we first got it
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So I was a little bit worried that we would have to charge it up and wait for it. But it actually was ready to go
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Already had a bit of a charge. So we literally could take it out of the box and get playing right away
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So the robot and joystick came in one part of the package. And then you also have this other box, which I just love
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It's great for storage. It has this little magnetic closure. But when you open it up, you've got some bags in here
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These are some different coding cards that I will be showing you and talking about later
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And then we've got some. little flags a little flagpole and some different decorations some instructions
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very very basic though the instructions aren't too in depth because like I said
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it's pretty self-explanatory these are really fun my son loves these they're
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little masks and things that you can use to decorate your robot so he really
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likes to use the dog one so you can dress them up and you'll see you later this is a
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great toy to use for storytelling So it's just kind of a little fun element to have
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So you've got some different masks. And then you have some extra cards
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I'll show you the music one in a little bit and how that works. And then you have these pieces that are inside
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So on one side, they're green and they have some different story elements on it
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And then on the back, you have basically some roads and some different ways that you can use this as well
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So that is basically, what comes in the box and what you're gonna get when you purchase the M-Tiny for your kids
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So this toy is designed to teach coding basics to young kids
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You have a lot of these little blue cards. And these cards, which I'll show you how to use in a moment, these cards kind of mimic what
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you might see in a block-based coding program like Scratch. So my older son actually walked in when we were playing and made that connection pretty
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quickly because he has used Scratch quite a bit. But anyway, your kids are going to use these
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cards to put together a procedure or a sequence of actions that the M-tai is going to follow. So
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essentially it's helping them learn programming algorithms. So with the different blue cards
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you have different actions like turns. You can tell the robot to go straight. And then you
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also have some yellow cards that will teach them to repeat. actions to use those in their algorithms. And then once they get a little bit more advanced
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you even have some cards that teach them how loops work. So these are the different types of
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things that your kids are going to use when they program or code the M Tiny Robot. And it's going
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to help teach them about those programming algorithms, those procedures, and just the building blocks
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of what that looks like and how you command a robot or programs to move or to do what you want
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them to do. Okay, so to give you an idea of how this works, I've set up just a short algorithm
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here. You always want to start with this green flag, this yellow piece, and then you basically
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just line up the directions in order of what you want your robot to do. And then this piece
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at the end is what you would use to tell your robot to go or on your joystick. You do have a start
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and a stop button so you could use either one of these. You can also use this joystick here to kind of
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to control and turn or move your robot around. So my son really likes to play with this too
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But the joystick is really neat. It has this tap feature where all you have to do is tap the pieces of
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your algorithm and that kind of programs it and tells it to run. So we're going to start by tapping
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this piece and then you tap each piece in your algorithm. Okay. So what this would have us do is he's going to move forward
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two times and then turn. Okay, and then when I want him to actually go
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I will hit this or I can hit the start button. So we'll just tap this, and then you'll see him move forward once, twice
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and then turn. And that's it. So really easy to just jump right in right off the bat
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and start creating different algorithms and different things and very easy to program them tiny
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Now, one of the things that my son absolutely loved, which I didn't show you yet, are these little emotion pieces. So these pieces here will make the robot do some silly faces
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to show some different emotions. So these are all of the different pieces that it has that can show
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emotion. So for example, let's do the angry face. This one really made him laugh when you
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discovered it. So it just turns the robot angry. So there's a few different ways that you can use this
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in your storytelling or when you're playing with the M Tiny. And I think it's just a really cute
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extra feature that my son really loves. So when we first opened up this kit, my son and I just
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explored by using these different cards to create different algorithms. But you also do get
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I forgot to show this in an unboxing, but you also do get this book right here that includes 18
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different challenges to help your kids learn the functions of the different cards. So teaching them
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how to use them And that actually what you going to use the green mat for as well So you can use the book right away if you want to So just for example it teach you what to do
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how to use the controller. It'll give you a little challenge with setting up your green cards and then
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having it program the code to get it to move from place to place. So you can use this if you want to
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or you can use it later on. You might want to let your child just play around first
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and then use these later on for challenges. Or you can design your own challenges for your kids
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using the mat. All right, so there are quite a few of these puzzle pieces
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that come with it, and you can configure them in many different ways. So this is just one of the ways that I have it set up
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The pieces are very thick and very sturdy and really easy to use
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So right now I just have it configured with the different pieces here. And M. Tiny, as the robot moves around, it actually interacts
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to some of the different things. So some of the challenges will ask your kids, you know, if you
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start your robot there, make it move to the book. So you would challenge your kids
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how would I get M. Tiny to move to the book. So they would learn they have to start with their
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flag piece and we want it to move forward two times, right? So we would just use two of the
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forward pieces. So they would set up their code and then use their little controller. We're going to
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make him face the right way. And then go. And then he's there. And he does a fun little
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interaction. He knows that he's on the book. So that's just one example of a challenge that you
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could give your kids when you're using the mat like this. So one of the great things is when you're
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ready to start introducing some more complicated concepts to your kids, like for example, this block
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right here, you could talk to them about how, well, this is just repeating the same action twice
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So what happens if we exchange that and we just tell our code to move forward two times
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And there's different ways to get that desired result that you want
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So it's great that in that you can, as they get more used to it, you can advance to some other concepts like introducing loops
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repeating entire sequences and things like that. So something else that I think is really fun
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A way that you can use this is with storytelling. So, you know, let's say you, I told your kids a story
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about how M. Tiny, he had to get to his soccer game and he made it, but then they lost their
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game. So he was really sad and he just decided to go home and take a nap. So how could you
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create that story? So then they have to figure out, okay, well, how do I
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build that code. So we could probably have a tiny turn, but let's just say he's facing the soccer
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ball, right? So he would want to move forward one time, right? He plays his little soccer game and then
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here's where our emotion cards come into play, loses his soccer game. So he's feeling sad
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And then he needs to go home and take a nap. So he's going to, and there's a couple different ways
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that he could do that. He could go forward one more time. And then when he gets there, he's going to need to turn to this is where it's going to get tricky
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He's going to turn to his right. So now I got to think through this
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This is going to be to his right right here, I think. We'll see if that works
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And then he's going to move forward one more time to get to his bed
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So we're going to test my coding abilities here and see what happens
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So if we wanted to try this story out. and I turned him down
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He's, that's why he's quiet right now. And then let's hit the go button
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All right, so he's crying. You can't hear it, but he's crying. He goes, turns, and then heads home and takes a nap
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Zia is tired, okay? So he made it there. And what, what I also love is
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kind of teaches some debugging because these I think are tricky. These turning cards right here
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with the direction that you want the robot to go see now he's sleeping. But your kids are going to learn
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debugging as well because if they do an action and it doesn't get them to the right place, they have to go back and they have to figure out, well, what did I do wrong? How do I fix that
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So lots of great skills that your kids can use with this and you can help to teach them
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So I mentioned there's also, if you flip over the green cards on the back, they have the
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roadmap on there. So you can also create your own little road, your town. There's different
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configurations, how you can put this together. But this is just another fun way. I love letting my son
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use the joystick with this because he can control the robot to drive around the town, and there's
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lots of little things that he can interact with along the way. So he learns to, you know, if I just make him go
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forward he'll interact with the police station and again lots of little characters and different
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things that we can interact with around the board if you know he tries to make him turn into a
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curb in the middle if I try to make him turn and go forward it bounces them back so we'll
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let him go over the curve and he just has to kind of maneuver his way around the road which is
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actually kind of challenging. I'm not so good at it. But just another fun way that you can use this
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and you can come up with your own stories and just a fun toy for your kids to play with You could also decide to use the different pieces to create code for this map as well
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Finally, the last thing I want to show you, it does come with a few different little extra cards. This one I want to show you is the music one
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And this is really neat. So if, let's say I tap this cat right here
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All right. and then I go and I touch any of the little keys. Miao, Miao, Mew, Mew, Mew, Mew, Mew, Mew, Mew
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So can teach different note names. And, well, yeah, different note names, the different keyboard
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the names of the notes on the keyboard, and even what they sound like
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And that's just another little fun thing that comes with it. There are a couple other cards
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We haven't explored them that much, but just one more thing that I love about this toy
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It's really versatile and a lot of different educational opportunities that your kids can get from playing with it
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Okay, so I hope that that gives you an idea of just what you can do with this toy and what your kids can learn
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I love that it's very self-explanatory and easy to use. My four-year-old could pick it up and get started with just a couple of simple instructions from me
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I also love that it's a really great introduction to robotics and coding and helps kids learn what block-based coding programs will be like
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if and when we use this in the future, my son will already be familiar with concepts like
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sequencing, loops, et cetera. It's also going to grow with him. So once he learns to use the
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basic command cards, we can begin to introduce those tougher concepts like loops or try
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different activities with the play mats. My son really love the masks and being able to
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dress up the robot. And he also really liked the fun actions and animations and just being
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able to create his own algorithm to tell the robot what to do. He got such a kick out of being
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able to make M Tiny go to the different places on the map and trying to get the code just right
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So for all those reasons, this is why I'm recommending this to you as a fun toy for your kids this
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Christmas or really any time during the year. It's such a neat way for kids to learn coding
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concepts and I can definitely see my preschooler enjoying this toy while I'm needing to focus my
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time on our older kids and our homeschool. And while we do allow and enjoy screens
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in our homeschool, I do appreciate that this is a screen-free activity that he can use that's
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engaging, hands-on, and interactive. So make sure you check out the link to this toy in the description
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to learn more and grab this for someone that's on your shopping list this year. Also, don't forget
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to check out the video I did on the Mbot Neo with my older son. This is absolutely another
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great option for an educational gift for your kids. And really, Makeblock has so many great
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coding robots that if your kids are interested in this type of thing, you're sure to find a gift that they'll love. Okay finally, before you go, I said I would share with you
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a book that I'm currently reading that you might want to add to your wish list this year. Now, I will
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admit it's not a fun book. I honestly don't get to do a lot of fun reading lately even though I love it
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That being said, I would love to hear some good book suggestions from you on what you've loved
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reading lately for fun, so please leave a comment for me. Anyway, most books I read lately are like this one
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want I'm going to share with you. Their parenting books or practical, tip-based books, which is fine
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I love them, but I would love some other suggestions as well. Today, though, I'm going to recommend
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this one to you called Raising Spiritual Champions by George Barna. I forget where I heard about this
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book. I think it might have been on Natasha Crane's podcast, but many of you know that I am really
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interested in biblical worldview education. So when I heard about this book, I had to grab it. You know
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question I've had in the back of my mind, even though we use Christian curriculum and biblical
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worldview-based curriculum, I want to do everything I can in my power, recognizing that
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ultimately God is sovereign and he has a sovereign will for my family, but what can I do with
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what he's given me and entrusted me with? So everything I can to help my kids imitate and
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desire to imitate Christ. There was a statistic that I heard in that podcast, and it actually
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repeats itself on the back of this book that our kids, their core beliefs, morals, values
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desires, and lifestyle are essentially determined by the age of 13. So we have a God-given responsibility
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to guide the development of our kids. So the question is, how do we do this? How can we be best
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equipped to carry this out? So I'm still reading through this, but it's such a great resource
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I think, to have on your shelf. There are three parts to the book. The first part gives some
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research insights and explains biblically why our discipleship of children is important, but then in the
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second and third parts, it gets into what it takes to make a disciple and how we can do this effectively
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as parents. So if you haven't heard of this book, go check it out. I'll leave a link in the
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description below for you. Thanks again so much for watching this video. Make sure to check out
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the playlist link below so that you can see what all of the other homeschool moms participating in
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this collaboration have recommended as their favorite educational gifts for this season. And
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make sure to hit that like button hit that subscribe button if you found this helpful
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I truly appreciate your support and would love for you not to miss out on future content
22:58
we'll see you next time
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