Welcome to Robotics for Tiny Techies, an exciting 16-week self-study adventure where imagination meets innovation! Designed specifically for curious young minds in Kindergarten through Grade 2, this course transforms complex engineering concepts into simple, playful activities. We believe that learning about technology should be a hands-on journey filled with wonder and discovery. Through this course, your child will build a foundational love for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by exploring the fascinating world of robots. Together, we’ll uncover what robots are, how they move, how they use sensors to see and hear, and even how we can give them simple instructions to follow. Get ready to build, experiment, and dream up a future where your tiny techie can create amazing robotic helpers!
Primary Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, your learner will be able to:
Confidently explain what a robot is and identify examples of robots in their daily lives.
Understand the function of basic robotic parts like wheels, gears, and sensors through simple, tangible concepts.
Describe how robots receive and follow instructions to complete a task.
Engage in creative problem-solving by designing, building, and testing their own simple robotic models.
Develop foundational computational thinking skills through fun, screen-free coding games and optional digital activities.
Appreciate the helpful role robots play in our world and imagine their potential for the future.
Your Robotics Inventor’s Toolkit
To get started on this adventure, you won’t need any complex electronics. Instead, we’ll use a collection of creative supplies and household items to bring our ideas to life.
Building & Construction: A set of LEGO DUPLO, Magna-Tiles, or any large interlocking blocks will serve as the bones of our robotic creations.
Creative Crafting: Gather construction paper, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, tape, glue, scissors, and markers. These will help give our robots personality and function.
Recycled Robots: The best inventions come from everyday objects! Start collecting cardboard boxes, paper towel rolls, plastic bottles, and bottle caps.
Simple Programmable Robot (Optional but Recommended): A screen-free toy like a Bee-Bot or Code & Go Robot Mouse can bring coding concepts to life in a very tangible way.
Digital Playground (Optional): For bonus activities, a tablet with ScratchJr or a computer with Scratch provides a great, free platform for exploring block-based coding.
Household Items: Everyday objects like a flashlight, a small ball, spoons, and string will be used for various experiments.
The Learning Power of Robotics for Tiny Techies
Why introduce robotics at such a young age? Because the skills learned in Robotics for Tiny Techies go far beyond building machines. This course nurtures critical thinking and problem-solving skills. When a child asks, How can I make my robot move across the room? they are learning to identify a problem, brainstorm solutions, test their ideas, and learn from their mistakes. These are the fundamental building blocks of innovation, engineering, and resilience.
The Adventure Ahead: 16 Weeks of Discovery
Weeks 1-2: Meet the Robots!
Lesson Focus: What is a robot? We’ll define a robot in simple terms and identify their common traits—they can move, they can do jobs, and they follow instructions. We will go on a robot hunt to find examples in our homes, from vacuums to smart speakers.
Key Vocabulary: Robot, Machine, Job, Instructions.
Hands-on Fun: Start by discussing robots from movies or books. What jobs do they do? Then, go on a hunt for machines in your home (blender, washing machine, garage door opener) and talk about how they are a little bit like robots. For a creative finale, design and draw a helper robot. What task would it do for your family?
Week 3: How Robots Move – Rolling and Sliding
Lesson Focus: Robots need special parts to get around. We’ll explore the difference between rolling and sliding motions and identify wheels as an essential component for many robots.
Key Vocabulary: Move, Wheel, Roll, Slide.
Hands-on Fun: Create a simple ramp using a large book or piece of cardboard. Gather various objects (a toy car, a block, a ball, a crayon box) and predict whether they will roll or slide. Test your predictions! Then, use your building blocks and some bottle caps as wheels to construct a simple vehicle that can roll down the ramp.
Week 4: Making Robots Move – Push and Pull
Lesson Focus: How do robots start moving? We’ll introduce the concept of force as a push or a pull. We’ll connect these forces to how a robot’s motors work to make it move.
Key Vocabulary: Push, Pull, Force, Motor.
Hands-on Fun: Have a Push and Pull race. Use a toy or a small box as your robot. First, push it across a finish line. Next, tie a string to it and pull it back to the start. Talk about how your arm is acting like a motor, providing the force. You can also create a paper plate robot with a string attached to pull it along on an adventure.
Week 5: Robot Bodies – Built for a Job
Lesson Focus: A robot’s shape is not an accident! We’ll explore how a robot’s body and parts (arms, grippers, legs) are designed specifically for the job it needs to do. A robot that explores Mars looks very different from one that vacuums a floor.
Key Vocabulary: Body, Arm, Leg, Gripper, Design.
Hands-on Fun: The big design challenge! Using your recycled materials—cardboard boxes, tubes, and plastic bottles—design and build a robot body for a specific task. Maybe it’s a robot with long arms to reach the top shelf or a flat robot to slide under the couch and find lost toys.
This journey is just the beginning. As we continue, we will explore robot sensors, simple coding, and how robots can help people and animals. The world of Robotics for Tiny Techies is vast and full of creative possibilities, providing your child with the foundational skills to become a confident thinker, builder, and problem-solver of the future.