By Harriet Price, ICT advisor, Homerton Nursery and Early Years Centre, Cambridge
Remote controls and programmable toys have a kind of magic about them.
Children can control them and make them 'go' just with the press of a button. The toys fall into two groups:
* programmable toys that respond with specific movements over predictable distances
* remote controls that move as long as a button is held down.
Duplo Buggies
We love the Duplo Remote Control Buggies, which are extremely robust. They come with screwdrivers to put together any number of combinations of vehicles and can be used inside and outside. Cleverly, the three remotes act on different radio frequencies so they don't interfere with each other.
We use these vehicles in combination with blocks and cardboard boxes for building car parks and garages. They encourage children to work collaboratively, use language together to build different scenarios and to solve problems as they steer their vehicles into 'garages'. Above all, the children enjoy this play and are highly motivated to work together.
Pixies and Bee-Bots
Pixies and Bee-Bots are similar programmable toys. Pressing buttons moves the toys in chosen directions. Each button press moves the toy the same length as itself, which encourages predicting, checking and correcting. The merits of both are worth comparing.
Pixie:
* Plain metal box is open- ended for imaginative play wearing different 'jackets'
* Laminated photographs can be attached so they can go on a 'journey'
* It can't be pushed along the floor because it hasn't got a gear
* Can be returned for repair
* Quite expensive to buy, approximately 120.
Bee-Bot:
* Looks like a brightly coloured plastic bug, difficult to personalise with jackets or photos
* Has a hook on the back to attach trailers
* Can be pushed along the floor
* Is not easily mended
* Relatively cheap to buy, approximately 40.
Homerton's website has a clip showing children using a Pixie to deliver fruit. The child discovers that pressing the button more than once moves Pixie forward further. Attach a pen to the back of Pixie and see how fascinated the children are as the object draws lines and circles.
Further information:
* Homerton's ICT in the Early Years website: http://foundation.e2bn.net/
* Pixie, resources and ideas: www.swallow.co.uk
* Duplo Remote Control Buggies: www.commotiongroup.co.uk
* Bee-Bots and Remote Control Bugs: www.tts-group.co.uk
