Last night Allison and I went to see the comedian Brian Regan at PPAC, the Providence Performing Arts Center. We had given this night to ourselves back on our actual anniversary. Regan is one of our favorite comedians. He did a great set and we learned that he will be having a show on Netflix soon. It will be a sort of sketch show based on Regan’s old bits and some of his new ones.
We also went for dinner over at Canova. It was an excellent meal and a great night together.
We received a copy of Circuit Conductor from Pai Technology for free to play with and review. These are our honest impressions.
Circuit Conductor is for ages 4 and up. Andrew is 6 years old and he has shown interest in different toys that teach children about electricity. That is why I requested a copy of this for us to review. The set is very straightforward and simple enough for a younger child but has some challenges that are good for an older child to accomplish without help. Andrew was able to go through the tutorials quickly and easily. He then set out experimenting with his own circuits and creations. He tried out all of the different wires and individual circuits to see how each would work in his experiments.
The app is useful in that you can scan over the creations and then see how the electricity flows through each electrical function box and wire. The set comes with a special mat that you use to place the electrical function boxes. Then you take a smartphone or tablet and scan it with the camera. The circuit is shown and then you can move a slider to see the electrical flow. You can also use the function boxes that were scanned in the app to further test out what they do.
There is also a puzzle game that lets the child select from a set of function boxes to pick the correct one to solve the puzzle.
Both the app and the toy encourage experimentation and learning. This is something that Andrew has really been enjoying playing. Because each Function box and wire has a magnet on it Andrew can easily connect the components together. He just needs to figure out the correct order of everything so that his experiments work. That is where the experimentation comes in.
The official description of Circuit Conductor.
Circuit Conductor teaches children about electricity, currents, and magnets through fun, imaginative AR play. Use 12 different electrical function blocks and special insulated wires to build fun circuits and learn about electricity through the free app. Scan circuits using a mobile device to view electrical flows in real time, follow tutorials, and play in-game puzzles to enhance problem-solving and critical thinking. Circuit Conductor emphasizes focus, concentration, creativity, and hand-eye coordination. 4+, $69.99
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