Dough Universe: Kids Play Dough That Teaches Them About Electricity
Kids love playing with squishy colored dough they can form into whatever their imagination creates: creatures, animals, cars, people, etc. The startup company Tech Will Save Us has taken this fun-filled doughy substance to the next level: the application of a conductive play dough that teaches children the fundamentals of how electricity works! This line of conductive play dough toy kits is known as Dough Universe, and is for children ages 4-7.
The Tech Will Save Us company is a London-based startup founded in 2012 by Bethany Koby and Daniel Hirschmann. Their purpose for the company is explained by Koby during an interview with wired.com:
“Sixty-five per cent of children currently in primary school will have jobs that don’t yet exist,” says Koby. “We believe kids deserve toys which will provide them with the skills that will help prepare them for the future. We hope that the Dough Universe will inspire our youngest generation to embark on a lifelong love of learning. As a parent myself, it’s important that toys are educational and help children through key developmental stages, ensuring that kids aren’t just passive consumers of tech.”
Dough Universe consists of three kits: Squishy Sounds Kit, Bright Creatures Kit, and Electro Machines Kit. Each kit has its own purpose: the ability to make sounds and noises, lighting things up with LEDs, and movement of these doughy creations. Each Dough Universe kit is created equally, meaning they are all meant to teach children the basics of circuitry with the use of Electro dough, a type of dough that conducts electricity.
The Squishy Sounds Kit gives children the ability to build instruments like pianos and drums that make different sounds. The Bright Creatures Kit allows kids to create creatures and animals like penguins and dragons that light up. The Electro Machines Kit is made to build robots, cars, and machines that make all different kinds of movements.
If conductive dough wasn’t enough, the company also has a tablet app to go hand-in-hand with each kit. The app is used in conjunction with the dough kits, teaching kids how electricity works with stories and games as they create their doughy animals and robots.
The Tech Will Save Us company has its Dough Universe play dough kits on the Kickstarter website, with a goal of $50,000 to reach by July 5th. Each kit is sold separately at $40 each, or at $100 for all three. Help this company fund their innovate educational toys to help teach children about the world around them! Visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/techwillsaveus/dough-universe-squishy-tech-toys-for-4-7-year-olds
As electricians, we thought this article was a great subject for a blog, being it had to do with electricity AND the learning of circuitry fundamentals at an early age with the use of tech toys. Teaching children early about how things work peaks their interest, and what better way than with educational tech toys that build a skill set to be used for their future. To learn more about other educational toys made by Tech Will Save Us, visit: https://www.techwillsaveus.com
Sources:
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/dough-universe-tech-save-us