Toys

Review: Little Tikes My Real Digital Video Camera

Dale — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:20:43 -0500

I live my life through a tiny screen. When I go to our kids' concerts, I take the camcorder and watch much of the concert through the 3" viewfinder. Now, MGA/Little Tikes gives your aspiring mogul the opportunity to do the same with the Little Tikes My Real Digital Video Camera.

A number of cameras for kids have come onto the market lately, so what sets this one apart from the rest? One word: waterproof. This camera is safe under water up to three feet, not exactly something to take swimming with the sharks, but good enough for the backyard swimming pool, water park, or "oops" into the sink. The body is durable enough to hold up to most preschoolers or older, and the handles and lens area are rubberized for extra protection. It integrates a shoulder strap for easy carrying and includes a soft case for transporting.

Video: Guinea Pigs as taken by Little Tikes Camcorder

The camera can record videos up to 640x480 resolution, which looks fine on an SDTV, but it records files in the non-standard .asf format, which causes problems for QuickTime but works OK in Windows Media Player. (On a Mac, use the free VLC to view, but be prepared for choppy playback, and don't expect to import into iMovie or iTunes. If anyone has a detailed explanation how to convert these into something standard on a Mac, post a comment below.) It also takes still photos with a 1.3 megapixel resolution, including a 4X digital zoom, which we don't recommend using. The camera has a built-in LED light/flash, which works fairly well for photos, but you'll notice how dark the indoor video looks, so we recommend recording in daylight or a brightly lit room.

The battery case uses 4 screws and a rubbery gasket to keep the water out, but note that removing the cover can be very difficult because it's on so tight, which is important, but it also means that accessing the various slots and ports requires a bit of strength or a flat object like a table knife to pry the lid off. In this same compartment, you'll find a USB port for connecting to a computer (cord included, and while iPhoto on the Mac doesn't recognize it as a camera, it mounts both the camera and SD card for easy drag-and-drop), SD slot (it only includes 64 MB built-in memory, which gets used up pretty quickly if you use the video, but you can get a 2GB card for about $10, and it works great), and A/V port to connect to your TV for photo and movie playback (cord included).

Eschewing the games of some other cameras (no big loss here), this camera does include a handful of editing features to add frames or sounds to videos and photos. (Note: Open these photos in a new window to see at full-size.)

While it won't win any awards for photo or video quality, if you're looking for a camcorder for kids about age 3-9 (any older, and they'll probably be ready for something more mature), you can't go wrong with this one, and we highly recommend it for capturing the world through the eyes of a child.

Review: Air Hogs RC Zero Gravity Micro

rmgreg — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:15:50 -0500

I have to give it to the advertisers, they new exactly how to go after my 4-year-old, Caleb. No sooner had the commercial for the new Air Hogs RC Zero Gravity Micro ended when he said, “we need that!” After a lesson in differences between ‘need’ and ‘want’, I convinced Caleb the best thing he could do was put it on his Santa Wish List. A few weeks later, and he and I were putting a review unit through its paces. Santa certainly works in mysterious ways.

Now I like remote control (RC) toys and by ‘like’ I mean that I like to play with them. I am not a hardcore RC expert, so my review of the Zero Gravity Micro will critique based on two issues: 1) does it work, and 2) is it fun to play with.

The Car

To start with, let’s take a look at the RC car and controller. If you haven’t seen the commercials for the Zero Gravity Micro, it is a car that races up walls and on the ceiling. How does it manage this? Well the vehicle is equipped with a mini fan that sucks air from the bottom of the car and blows it out the top. Aiding in the suction are two fabric air skirts that run the length of the car. This allows the fan to produce a negative pressure or vacuum under it, thus allowing it to stick to walls and the ceiling. Think hovercraft in reverse. Providing propulsion for the car are two off-axel wheels, one forward left and the other back right. These wheels allow the car to move forward, backwards, right and left, and because they are off-axel, the car can spin in place. The car is controlled by a remote/charger that has toggles for forward/backward and right/left. The remote/charger takes 6 AA batteries, which it uses to power the remote and charge the vehicle when it needs it. The car has two working headlights that will begin to flash when it’s in need of a charge. Think of it as a warning to grab it before gravity takes over and it comes crashing to the floor. Charging time takes between 20 and 40 minutes with a run time of about 15 to 20 minutes. The vehicle is made of a light plastic, which my wife Tonya commented as feeling ‘cheap’. However, she soon realized that it has to be light in order to reduce its weight, thus allowing it stick to the wall and ceiling. That said, the vehicle did survive a few high impact collisions with the floor.

The Proving Grounds

In order for the Zero Gravity Micro to work, it is recommend that you use a very smooth surface upon which to race. Therefore, we chose our podcasting studio in the basement as our proving grounds as it has both smooth walls and ceiling. The car has 2 drive modes, ground and wall. Ground does not use the fan and thus allows the vehicle to race along the floor. As far as a ground racing RC car, this vehicle did little to impress us so we won’t dwell on it too much here. Switching the drive to wall mode engaged the fan which made a spinning-fan-whine akin to those useless pocket keyboard vacuums. It was noticeable, but not annoyingly loud. It should be noted that by its design, this is a strictly an indoor toy, so telling the kids to take the spinning-fan-whine outside is just not going to work.

Up The Wall

When placed on a smooth wall, the car stuck, which I’ll admit, impressed me for a moment. Then we attempted to race the car around on the wall. The first thing we should note is that it races down the wall a lot faster than it races up, but that’s to be expected. The car races well in a straight line, again to be expected. Turning and maneuvering car on the wall was a bit more difficult. Because of its off axel wheels, the car kept on wanting to spin too sharply, most of the time causing it to perform a 180-degree turn on the spot. This suggests to me that there is a built in learning curve to give the car just enough of what it needs in order to go where you want it to. A few times the car didn’t move at all, either the suction was too great or the wheels couldn’t get traction. After a few more minutes on the wall, we thought that the ceiling might be a cooler way to go.

Across The Ceiling

Once again, the Zero Gravity Micro stuck to the ceiling and again I was impressed. Controlling the vehicle on the ceiling is a lot easier than the wall and much more impressive than the floor. We could get the car to make nice controlled turns instead of head spinning 180s. It should be noted however that ceilings are not entirely flat, even though they may appear to be so. Ask yourself, how often do you look your ceiling and question whether it is a smooth enough surface for racing an RC car upon it? Honey, call the contractor, I think there is a slight bulge. And let me tell you, that’s all it takes. A slight bulge, and the vacuum seal is broken and then gravity takes over. This is when we tested the integrity of the light plastic.

Overall Impressions

At the beginning I mentioned two issues that we’d keep in mind when doing this review. The first was, “does it work?” And to that, we’d have to say, yes it does. However, it should be pointed out that not all walls and ceilings were created equal. Lack of a good racing surface can mar your experience. The second issue was, “is it fun to play with?” Well, after a few minutes of racing the car on the wall and then on the ceiling, Caleb and 7-year-old Nikolai handed the remote back to me and went off to find something else to do. Their problem was that the wall was too difficult to drive on and racing on the ceiling required me to stick the car there. In other words, you need a means by which to get the car to the ceiling. So basically this toy is a novelty in that it races on the wall and the ceiling. Once the novelty wears off, well there’s not much else you can do with it. That said, Caleb has decided to give the car 4 Stars out of 10 stating that it wasn’t at all like the commercial. Nikolai is giving it 50 Thumbs Up out of 100 because though it was fun, it just kept falling down too much. As for me, when compared to regular RC cars, this one was just a one trick pony. So I’m giving it 3 Dancing Elephants out of 8.

Parting Thoughts

Parents are always happy when their child receives a little real word education. In this case, Caleb learned a valuable thing about commercials, in particular the phrase, “Your experiences may vary.”

Review: Spinz Spinning Pens

Dennis Gray — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:37:37 -0500

Zero. Ronin. Axis. Huh? I don't get it.

But I'll explain it.

Jakks-Pacific is introducing the U.S. market to pen-spinning, a popular 'sport' in Europe and Asia, with thousands of participants, tournaments, a Pen Spinning World Cup - whah?

Pen spinning is becoming a free form of self expression for pen lovers - and people who want to be in a sport and not break a sweat. They aren't just for writing anymore, I suppose. These pens are built in such a way as to provide heft and balance where needed such that their owners can do tricks and amaze their friends. A quick YouTube search will yield thousands of examples.

The makers of Spinz pens claim to be the only manufacturer of precision-balanced pens specifically for spinning. In their demo video, they claim that if kids get caught spinning pens in class, their teachers can't take 'em away 'cause the kids can't do their work! These actually are writing instruments.

I dunno. I see 'detention' written on these bad boys.

Still, it gives someone with a true attraction to pens a place to go and express themselves, either by learning the tricks of pen-spinning (which is beyond my family's abilities, frankly) or allow them the freedom to customize the daylights out of their writing implements.

Spinz pens come in three product familes / skill levels. Entry level is 'Zero' which includes a snap-on spinner, akin to training wheels for would-be spinners. Then there's 'Ronin' which raises the bar and includes goodies for customizing and changing weights to suit its owner. 'Axis' is the ultimate, and includes all the goodies any pen spinner could want, like grips, weights, even a sweat band (hmm...). There are also add-on accessory packs, called 'Modz' to add a splash of color, or a bit more weight.

Now for the critique.

As someone who uses pens everyday, I can say that as writing instruments, Spinz pens are lacking. I understand of course that the primary reason for these pens is spinning, but if you're a pen fan, these write pretty much like an inexpensive ballpoint. It can also be difficult to keep the pen snapped together while writing, again realizing that the pen is built from smaller parts that are interchangeable for balance and performace in the spinning arena.

This is a niche product which will appeal to those folks already aquainted with pen spinning, and so I asked a neighborhood teen his opinion of Spinz pens for spinning. His assessment was that they were underweight to do complex tricks, and when he added some small fishing weights to the end caps the pens were much more spinnable (in his humble opinion). I have to go with his obsservation, since I for one lack the manual dexterity to open the box without aid, let alone spin one of these pens successfully.

If you have someone on your shopping list who has asked for one, the $10 entry point for the 'Zero' and 'Ronin' starter sets won't bust the budget. If you spotted these on the end cap at the mega-mart and thought they might be fun for your 4-year-old, steer clear - there are too many small parts for younger kids. This is a product for tweens and teens - and probably not pen collectors.

Review: Bakugan Battle Brawlers

PD Love — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:25:56 -0500

Sometimes as a parent you just have to assume what the kids like is fun. For Bakugans,
you have to assume they are a lot of fun since they are sold out most
of the time at the stores and my kids are absolutely obsessed with them.

If you are new to the Bakugan world consider this explanation- it is a cartoon and game like Pokeman with a twist, a very interesting twist- you get spherical creatures who transform into a creature, a Bakugan, when they come into contact with a Bakugan card (or any metal surface actually).

The little colorful balls are spring loaded and must contain a magnet that
releases the spring and launches them into action. Arms, legs and
typically a head of some sort pop open as soon as the ball rolls onto a
metal surface. The playing cards contain a metal strip that activates
the Bakugan balls and also gives the battle statistics of the creatures.
Furthermore, their points ranking is printed on the creatures so they
can be ranked and rated for battle.

As I mentioned, as an adult I have a hard time understanding the attraction to these type of games,
and even more trouble keeping the names and species correct. But the
boys love it. They can tell you who is who, what powers they have,
what points they are and more information than you want to know. I
hope this type of activity improves their memory rather than rot their
minds.

Regardless of if I get it or not, they sure do. Bakugans are a big hit and I have to say I feel there is more to them than the Pokeman cards and other card based game. And the little transforming character balls are kind of interesting to observe, as a battle bystander. I am sure the boys would rate these off the charts but I have to say, from an entertainment perspective, they get high ratings from me as well.

Review: Skeleflex

PD Love — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:02:50 -0500

The boys and I were very excited when we got the opportunity to play with the Skeleflex sets. Part of our review included the Powerflex lab, the Triceratops kit and the Akafly aliens kit. The Powerflex lab came in a spiffy box with a handle- great for storage and transport- and the two other sets came in unique cases (Triceratops in a large bone and Akafly in a skull case- very cool).

Skeleflex is a set of toys that are pieces you put together to build a skeleton of a dinosaur or monster. Our sets included a Tiriceratops, a winged alien monster and T-Rex that came with the Powerflex lab. Each animan was un-assembled and had instructions on how to put it together. Basically, you build a spine, arms, legs, head, tail, etc. using plastic pieces that have one side with a ball joint and the other with a ball opening for the joining piece to snap into. Pieced together as instructed, the make a great dinosaur or alien. Pieced together more creatively and you can let the fun begin. That is the great thing about these sets- you are free to mix and match and create all new creatures and creations from the parts.

The Powerflex lab includes a motorized torso that causes the T-Rex head and tail to thrash about. Locking in the T-Rex feet on the Powerflex lab platform and the motorized action makes the skeleton come to life. But you can also take the T-Rex off the platform and have him move about. The boys found it especially funny to have him bang his head against the table- boys will be boys.

The assembly of the animals is also unique. For example, the wings on the Akafly alien are held together with a rubber piece that allows you to easily press down on it and activate the wings in a flying motion. The boys really liked this as well and it immediately brought on some crowing noises.

The way that these items connect is a tough science to conquer. When puttting them together, at times, the boys needed help. The pieces need to be snug to maintain the integrity of the shape of the animal but still be able to more them around. As for disassembly, that is an even tougher nut to crack. In trying to take pieces apart we unfortunately snapped a ball joint off causing its piece to be rendered useless for future assembly and the piece that it broke off into required some heavy digging to get it out. Luckily the sets come with a couple extra "flexible" joints that can be used in place of the plastic ones but this design seems a little too easily broken. With great care we were able to deconstruct other pieces but only with a great deal of stress that we would snap another- much more care than the average child would give to the process.

Overall I think these toys are a great concept. They involve dinosaurs- a big hit with the kids- assembly, motorization and open up a world of creativity when using more than one kit. Although the assembly may be a little tough for smaller hands and muscles, getting adults involved is definitely not the end of the world and might actually add to the fun. My only con of the toy is the tightness required for the connectivity of the parts and how that can result in broken pieces during disassembly of a creation. The toy seems geared toward constantly recreating new animals/structures and until the pieces wear out a bit (and perhaps lose their ability to retain structural integrity), the fear of breaking them while taking them apart could cause some stress. But hopefully the fun with these kits will outweigh that stress and keep the joy going for quite some time.

Episode 58: Creepy Doll

Dale — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:36:38 -0400

Dale and Teresa are back without pumpkins.

Toy News

Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo Doll: Subversive?

Tech News:

MyKey helps parents control teen drivers
Apple's New MacBooks (Note: No FireWire!)

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Music by Kevin McLeod

Review: Crayola 3D Sidewalk Chalk

Dale — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:49:03 -0400

3D technology is making a comeback. Hannah Montana Concerts have put the 3D glasses back on audiences, but who wants to watch everything in red and blue?

Crayola has always made colors that stand out above the rest, and this new product takes standing out to the next level, namely, the 3rd dimension. Now, your kids can color designs on the sidewalk, driveway, or easel, put on the included 3D (prism, not red/blue) glasses, and have the colors jump out at them.

The magic here isn't in the chalk--it's in the prism glasses. The included chalk pieces have 2 colors on each, intended for maximum variation in effects, but we have a huge bucket normal sidewalk chalk, and we found that it works just as well. In fact, we tested the glasses with colored pencils and got the same result. It even added dimension to a cake mix box. The glasses alone will keep kids of all ages enthralled for hours.

The glasses work by causing colors on the red end of the spectrum to rise while the blue end of the spectrum sinks. It's all basic physics of light, but it's a great effect that takes a classic toy with lots of creative potential and gives it new life. Start with the included chalk, then buy more regular chalk, which will work just as well. (We have tested many brands of chalk, colored pencils, and crayons and only buy Crayola for our kids as their colors are consistently more vibrant.) For rainy days, get out crayons, markers, or paint, and take the same approach for 3D masterpieces.

Our kids have a great time with both the chalk and the glasses, and even our teenage daughter likes looking through the glasses at all kinds of objects. These are a great buy, and since you can use them with any colored medium (construction paper, anyone?), they have much more value than just a fair-weather outside toy.

Review: Seapals by Russ Berrie’s Applause Brand

rmgreg — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:02:54 -0400

I spent my impressionable years growing up in Southern California, which meant that I have always had a great love for the Pacific Ocean and all that lived under her waves. I spent my summers on the beach, I was a certified open water SCUBA diver at age 12, my first real job was at Marineland of the Pacific, I was accepted into an honors program in oceanography at a Northern California college, I received a scholarship in Marine Biology and I almost made it my life’s career.

And now I live in Chicago, Illinois, about as far as you can get from any ocean. But lucky for me, we have the Shedd Aquarium, which does a decent job at keeping my feet wet, so to speak. However, the best part about the Shedd is that is satiates Nikolai’s and Caleb’s fascination for aquatic life. My boys could spend hours staring into a fish tank. Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Nikolai and Caleb are also into Webkinz, the stuffed animals that live a second life in a web-based world, so when Russ Berrie’s Applause Brand announced the Seapals, which are a new line of web-interactive marine life plushes, I thought this could only further their interests in the sea. So we took the plunge.

Catch of the Day

At present, there are 10 different Seapals: Reef Shark, Manta Ray, Clown Fish, Sea Horse, Banner Fish, Dwarf Flame Angel, Pink Anemone Fish, Purple Tang, Blue Lobster, and Sea Turtle. Coming soon to the ocean are Sting Ray, Dolphin, Puffer Fish, Powder Blue Tang, Octopus, and Star Fish (Uh huh, see which ones you can spot from Finding Nemo). Each Seapal comes with a secret code (located on the packaging under the silver scratch off) that allows you to log on to www.seapalsworld.com and enter the Seapals Underwater World. We received the Dwarf Flame Angel fish and what surprised me the most was how small the plush is. Mind you it was colorful and well constructed, however it instantly made me think of the one that must have got away. The plush is about the size of a Beanie Baby or the small size plush you can win at a carnival, which is an okay size; I was just expecting something a little more huggable. The plush also acts as a finger puppet for out-of-water adventures.

The Fish Tank

After logging into the Seapals World, your first stop is your virtual fish tank. Here is where your fish hangs out and where you take care of him or her. You are responsible for feeding your fish, checking the water temperature, and levels of salt, light, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, algae, and pollution. You can also personalize your tank with plants, coral, sunken treasures, sunken ships, and other fish tank accoutrements. If you purchase additional Seapals, they will be added to this tank. Finally, the virtual fish tank can act as a screen saver when run in full screen mode.

The Open Sea

The virtual fish tank is a nice place to hang out, but who wants to spend the day swimming around a virtual tank when the Ocean is just a click away. Your first stop in the virtual ocean is your Seapad, a room that you can outfit with everything your fish may need, like a lounge chair, lamps, rugs, dresser, and bed in the shape of a pirate ship. Mind you, your fish will make use of none of these items, rather he or she will swim lazily about them. That said, you can invite friends that you meet in the undersea world over to your Seapad where they can check out your stuff and marvel at your abilities at interior design.

But who wants to just hang out in the Seapad? So from there you can go to the Tubestation and travel to other parts of the ocean where you can explore the undersea world, play games, chat with other fish, and purchase new stuff for both your virtual fish tank and your Seapad. To purchase items you use Pearlpoints, which you receive by winning and completing games. As an added bonus, when you first log in with your secret code, you get to spin a wheel for a one-time chance to win up to 10,000 Pearlpoints.

We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

When Nikolai and I first tried out the web-based Seapals World, we used our family computer, which is an iMac G5 running OS 10.5, with a DSL connection and running the latest versions of Safari and Flash. Unfortunately, our game play was a little frustrating. For example, during one game the count down clock moved really slowly while game play moved at a normal speed, which meant that I was able to finish a one-minute puzzle in 3 seconds. While in another game, the clock count down at a normal rate however game play was slow so it was impossible to complete the task before time ran out.

So we tried logging in on Tonya’s computer, which is a MacBook Pro running OS 10.4, using same DSL connection, Safari and Flash and there the games ran smooth as silk.

Game play on my computer, which is a PowerBook G4 running OS 10.5, again with the latest Safari, Flash, and the same DSL connection, fell somewhere between the other two computers. This all means that depending on your computer, your game play experience may vary greatly.

Just Keep Swimming

Right now, because the pool has only recently been opened for swimming, parts of the Seapals Underwater World are still under construction. As an example, we came upon one game that had the instruction for playing the game state “insert instructions text here.” In addition, Applause will be expanding the undersea world, and has designated two new areas to explore as “coming soon.” I only hope that these two new areas include some of the promised educational aspects of the Seapals World. I mean I think it would be great if we could learn a little bit about the different forms of marine life, which are represented by our Seapals.

Finally, other fish you may meet and interact with are right now few, which should change as more people purchase their Seapals. In the mean time, you do have the ability to ‘limited text’ chat with them, using prewritten and approved phrases for chatting. So you can let you child play somewhat secure in the knowledge that won’t find themselves in dangerous chat situations.

Overall Impression

After giving it some serious thought, which took all of three seconds, Nik has decided to give Seapals World 90 Thumbs-Up out of his patented 100 while the Dwarf Flame Angel fish plush received 100 Thumbs-Up… What can I say, he’s an easy catch. Unfortunately, I have to be a little more critical and say that for the Amazon Price Tag of $14.99 either the plush needs to be a little bigger or Seapals World has to go deeper into expanded adventures. In the meantime, I’m giving both of them 4 out of 8 Dancing Elephants.

Parting Thoughts

To support the preservation of marine environments, RUSS has announced that they will ‘Seas the Day’ by making a donation to local aquariums to help raise awareness about the importance of oceanic conservation. I applaud them for their effort, however in the past I have found that altruistic statements like this by other companies should be taken with a grain of sea salt. Hopefully, they can prove my cynisism to be unfounded.

Lego WeDo Robotics for Schools

Dale — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:09:19 -0400

This won't be available for the home, but beg your kids' school to get this!

LEGO® EDUCATION WEDOTM UNVEILED AT 2008 NATIONAL

EDUCATIONAL COMPUTING CONFERENCE

Company introduces first robotics product to work with OLPC XO, Intel Classmate or

any desktop and laptop Mac/PC

SAN ANTONIO, TX (JUNE 30, 2008) – LEGO Education, The LEGO Group’s educational division, today

announced LEGO® Education WeDoTM, a new product that redefines classroom robotics, making it

possible for primary school students 7?11 years of age to build and program their own solutions.

Bridging the physical world, represented by LEGO models, and the virtual world, represented by

computers and programming software, LEGO Education WeDo provides a hands?on, minds?on learning

experience that actively involves young students in their own learning process and promotes children’s

creative thinking, teamwork and problem solving skills – skills that are essential in the workplace of the

21st century. The new product is on display at the National Educational Computing Conference in San

Antonio, Texas, and will be available in the United States and Brazil beginning January 1, 2009.

LEGO Education WeDo encourages teachers to issue curriculum?based challenges for students to solve.

Working in teams, children invent their own solution by building a LEGO model and programming it to

perform a certain task. Cause and effect learning is enhanced by the models remaining tethered to a

computer; similar to scientists in working labs, children can test and adjust their programming in real

time. After reflecting on what did and did not work, students can consult with peers, adapt

programming, adjust models or begin again. Newly?designed software developed by National

Instruments, makes programming easy and intuitive and students quickly learn that they can solve real?

world challenges by tinkering with building and programming.

Developed to cover a broad range of curriculum areas, WeDo sample topics include Language and

Literacy: narrative and journalistic writing, storytelling, interviewing and interpreting; Mathematics:

measuring time and distance, adding, multiplying, estimating, using variables; Science: transmission of

motion, working with simple machines, gears, levers and pulleys; Technology: programming, using

software media and creating a working model.

“Building upon our successful 10?year history of bringing educational robotics to middle, high school and

university classrooms with the award?winning LEGO MINDSTORMS toolset, we are excited to extend this

expertise to benefit an even younger audience,” said Jens Maibom, vice president of LEGO Education.

“With a progressively competitive global economy, we know it is imperative to provide even younger

children and their teachers with curricular?relevant, easy?to?implement educational materials to spark

children’s interest in all manner of subjects. After observing classroom tests conducted in Brazil and the

United States, we are confident that WeDo, the first product from LEGO Education designed to serve the

classroom needs of emerging markets, will inspire teachers and motivate students in classrooms around

the world.”

“While still meeting state curriculum standards, the WeDo platform enabled me to start facilitating a

new but natural process where my students had an opportunity to direct their own learning,” said Debra

Heath, science lab teacher for Don T. Durham Elementary School. “All of my students were so engaged

in the lessons that they didn’t realize they were learning; even the students who struggle in every

subject were able to excel during WeDo projects.”

The complete LEGO WeDo package includes:

• 158 brightly colored LEGO elements, including gears, and levers

• One LEGO USB Hub connects directly to a Mac/PC laptop, desktop, OLPC XO or Intel Classmate

computer to allow control of hardware input (tilt and motion sensors) and output (motor),

thereby bringing models to life

• One motor, one motion sensor and one tilt sensor

• Drag?and?drop icon?based software that provides an intuitive and easy?to?use programming

environment suitable for beginners and experienced users alike, developed by a leading

provider of engineering hardware and software, National Instruments

• Activity pack CD?Rom provides up to 24 hours of instruction and includes 12 activities based on

four themes: Amazing Mechanisms, Wild Animals, Play Soccer and Adventure Stories. Running

alongside programming software, activities are introduced via animations. Teacher notes and

glossary are also included.

“The LEGO Group and National Instruments share a vision of inspiring design and creativity in children

through hands?on, interactive learning," said Ray Almgren, vice president of academic relations at

National Instruments. "Through our joint development of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT and now LEGO

Education WeDo, we are helping build an educational robotics platform, Powered by NI LabVIEW, that

enhances science and engineering education for students in all age groups.”

Horseshoe Magnets Recalled by Dowling Magnets Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard

Dale — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:25:02 -0400

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Classic Horseshoe Magnet

Units: About 91,500

Manufacturer: Dowling Magnets, of Sonoma, Calif.

Hazard: The plastic coating on the magnets contains excessive levels of lead, which violates the federal lead paint standard.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: This recall involves the Classic Horseshoe Magnets. The 6-inch tall horseshoe magnet has a red plastic coating on the “handle” end. Each “foot” of the magnet has an engraved “S” or and “N.”

Sold at: Specialty retail stores and educational supply distributors nationwide from March 2003 through April 2008 for about $10.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the classic horseshoe magnets away from children and contact Dowling Magnets to receive a free replacement horseshoe magnet.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Dowling Magnets toll-free at (866) 623-3336 between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. PST Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.dowlingmagnets.com. Consumers can also email the firm at support@dowlingmagnets.com