The Kano computer kit that kids build, code and play

It’s not a challenge to get a child interested in computers. The games, interactivity, visuals and sounds make it a natural attraction for kids to want to play with them. However, parents know the difference between productive play, time wasting play and play that can be a combination of both-or even more. The Kano computer kit takes that into consideration and has its main goal as being a solution to making computers fun, approachable and something that kids can build from the ground up. In short, for some children, the Kano computer kit will be a game changer in how they interact with technology, data and their future.

Your Kano will arrive in an orange box with everything kids need to assemble in order to put together their computer. The instructions are very simple and our 7 year old dived right into the box in an effort to put his together himself. For the most part he could assemble it, but there were two steps where I had to jump in and correct him. The Kano assembles itself with ease and kids (and parents) will draw parallels to LEGO as they put its scant seven pieces together.

The Kano has a set that comes with a monitor or you can simply plug it into the HDMI port on the back of any screen. There are also other plug-in options that they discuss on their website and chat boards.

It was amazing to see the excitement that our oldest had once he saw the lights from his Raspberry Pi (the motherboard for the Kano) speak to the monitor. He beamed with ear to ear smiles and said in a hushed voice, “it’s working”. For a moment he was a young Gene Wilder who had just brought Peter Boyle to life, albeit much more subdued, but was still full of wonder.

So his Kano computer was working, now what? That was exactly our son’s reaction. He turned around, looked at me as said, ‘now what I do?’I encouraged him to just go forward and not to be scared of where he goes or what he pushes.  Truthfully, I told him that because I wasn’t sure what to expect or what he should do.

He proceeded to make his avatar that resembled a reindeer ninja and then explore the games. The Kano computer is more than just a computer with games. It has Minecraft, Kano Code, Make Art, Make Pong, Scratch and Make Snake. All of those can be hacked so that kids can change aspects of the game, create things, make or share art and other fun coding things.

Our son clued into Minecraft immediately. He’s never played Minecraft before; he just knows that many of his friends and more importantly, the older kids at school say that Minecraft is cool. By using his Kano computer he can hack the game and learn Python, the coding language that makes it up. Kids can also do the same thing to pong, make music on the keyboard, use Linux commands in Terminal Quest or any of the basic apps one would expect on a computer like YouTube, Code academy and more in the app store.

Shortly after he entered the games he wanted to hack them to see what he could do. This was where I called in my wife to help oversee and guide him.  She knows much more about coding than I and could guide him in a way that was less frustrating. Kids who are 8 or those that can read with ease will be able to navigate the Kano from soup to nuts and get their hack on with no issues or supervision.  Our guy can read, but just not quick enough to balance his enthusiasm and patience when dealing with something new and fun.

And yes, the Kano is fun. The genius of the Kano computer kit is that it gives kids bits of information that are digestible to them in just the right amount. Our 7 year old can see hints of what it can do and wants to get there quickly. I managed to do a couple lines of code to make a screen move and he was awestruck.

It used to be when he said that he wanted to use the computer he would go online and play some ‘educational’ games. Now he requests time on his computer, which is awesome. Each day that he uses it I see him going deeper and deeper into the hacked version of game play. It’s soft sell coding. He’s learning life skills and not even realizing it.

Kids will be immediately attracted to the Kano. The trick for some kids (or parents) will be showing them that this is not a computer that they simply use for games. It’s a tool that they will physically put together and navigate on their own. I suspect that most kids will immediately understand that being able to create and program the game is infinitely more fun and rewarding in the short (and long term). We’ve only just scratched the surface of what the Kano can do. And even at this point its exceeding expectations, as well as, entertaining and education our son while he learns a skill that will stay with him for life.