We frequently run parallel workshops to empower parents and educators to lead their own hands-on engineering activities at home and in the classroom. Many of these parents and educators have asked us if we had any take-home kits that they could buy to facilitate exploring science and engineering outside of the classroom. These conversations were part of our motivation for creating the SpinWheel.
No prior experience with coding is needed to program the SpinWheel! Many students don’t have the opportunity to learn coding in school; the SpinWheel is a platform to learn coding from scratch. The lessons in our educational guide will introduce the basics that you’ll need, and are written for students twelve years old and up.
However, more experienced coders of all ages can bypass the introductory guide and jump right into the associated activities.
What are some possible uses of the SpinWheel?
- A colorful piece of jewelry or keychain that responds to your motion
- A compass
- A step counter
- A way to explore how vision works
- A tool to discover stroboscope photography
For even more ideas, check out our teaching materials.
However, the ideas in our educational guide are just a starting point - your child’s creativity is the limit for possible uses of the SpinWheel!
Who should buy the SpinWheel?
- Parents of kids who love coding
- Parents looking to introduce their kids to coding
- Parents of homeschooled kids
- Teachers
- Volunteers running science outreach events
- Museums
- Summer camps
Anyone else who wants to learn how to program their own colorful keychain or jewelry!
With the SpinWheel, anyone can introduce their children to programming and engineering without needing to have a technical background or the time necessary for designing an engaging STEM lesson from scratch. This can be especially useful for teachers who are seeking a hands-on way to excite students about the topics they are learning about in class.
The SpinWheel is also perfect for learning outside of the classroom! It can be used for one off STEM outreach events or be the basis for a series of lessons at a summer camp. The SpinWheel is also perfect for museums seeking a hands-on demo to introduce scientific concepts.
For an example of how we recently used the “Biology of Sight” adventure to introduce basic Arduino programming, check out this student guide.
Feel free to contact us at mail@spinwearables.com for more information about the SpinWheel!
We have a limited number of SpinWheels available for order from our store while supplies last.
Throughout the completion of this project we have prepared more general materials as well, unrelated to the SpinWheel. We have a small curated set of outside educational materials, as well as a short workshop we led on how to use some of the available resources for at-home educational events. Lastly, we ran an Ask-a-Scientist series where all attendees were able to discuss with working scientist what their work and life look like.
