This fall I will be leading two online workshops for educators who are interested in teaching coding and robotics to young students. Workshops & Dates: Introducing Coding to Young Students October 9-22, 2017 Introducing Robotics to Young Students October...

  Toys break. Wheels pop off axles, dolls lose their hair or even their heads, and the batteries inside mechanical pets weaken and die. As parents and teachers, we often try to protect young children from these events, repairing and replacing toys while they’re...

For the past three years, in my role as Early Childhood Coordinator at Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development, I have been writing, piloting, and revising a coding and robotics curriculum for PreK to Grade 3 called "Tech Beginnings." I'm pleased to...

I recently had a ton of fun talking about play as a guest speaker on a live webinar for Bright Horizons, an international provider of quality early childhood programs. Moderator Melanie Brooks and I talked about the joys and benefits of pretend play, messy play,...

Spread the word! In January I’ll be leading a series of teacher workshops for early childhood and primary grade teachers and administrators. The workshops will take place at Northwestern University in Evanston. We’ll discuss how to introduce coding and robotics...

Here is an excerpt from my new blog post for the Center for Talent Development: Two young children play with wooden blocks and plastic dinosaur toys. They create a zig zag path of blocks and move the dinosaurs down the path one by one, all in a row. As they play, the...

Like many other tangible tech enthusiasts, I was excited to hear about the new Fisher-Price Code-a-Pillar toy when it made its debut at the 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show. Over the summer the Code-a-Pillar became widely available to consumers and I was...

Guess what? I've submitted a proposal to present at the 2017 South by Southwest educator conference (SXSW.edu). My session is titled "Build that Code! Teach Coding with 3D Construction Projects." The SXSW application process includes a crowd sourcing component. Please...

Here’s my shopping list this week: Rubber bands Springs Nuts & bolts Golf tees Masking tape Wood glue Why am I shopping for such an odd combination of items? I’m purchasing supplies for a maker space. In my role as Early Childhood Coordinator at Northwestern...

Preschoolers are fascinated by robots but most robotics kits are intended for older children with advanced skills. In my work developing robotics curricula for early childhood classrooms, I’ve discovered that one way to engage young children in working with authentic...