It’s time to give our loyal blog readers the edge on locating the best education technology gifts for their budding Scientists, Technologists, Engineers, Artists, and Mathematicians.
Every year, Santa’s Chief Technology Elf Bernard creates a list of recommendations for Santa. Miraculously, that list has somehow fallen into our hands every year for the past seven years.
This year, Santa’s North Pole Server (the one Santa uses to store and manage all the millions of Christmas lists he’s sent) was attacked. About two weeks ago, an unidentified elf opened a malicious email causing all the data on this precious server to be encrypted.
This ransomware attack put the whole Christmas operation in peril with The Clause Family and all the elves rendered incapable of checking any lists, checking them twice, and finding out who's been naughty or nice. CTE Bernard reached out to the expert tech team at Oak Knoll who were able to track down the malicious code and decrypt the data without the need for a single bitcoin in payment. As a thank you, Bernard voluntarily shared his tech recommendations (which are normally for Santa’s eyes only) with the Oak Knoll community with the caveat that we use it responsibly.
When asked if Bernard would also share the list of who’s been naughty or nice, he flatly refused. We’ll just have to assume everyone in the Oak Knoll community has been nice this year (which we think is a pretty safe bet.)
Here’s Bernard the Elf’s suggestions for best tech-related education gifts this Christmas Season across a variety of price ranges.
Kano Computer - STEM focused technology (Ages 6+)
|This educational laptop for kids includes an 11.6" high definition touchscreen and detachable tablet design. Both the keyboard and touch screen are easy for children to use. The screen can withstand a steel ball dropped from six feet. Inspire creative thinking with Kano’s curriculum. Students can look inside their computer and see how it works. They can make emojis with binary code, tinker with touch, and play with pixels, sounds, and the processor.
Kano Computer - Amazon $169
Kano Star Wars Coding Kit - Amazon $19
Kano Frozen Code Kit - Amazon $14
Kano Motion Sensor Kit - Amazon $21
Air Hogs Drone - Amazon $13 (Ages 4+)
Fly with the power of your hands. Air Hogs Gravitor lets you unleash gravity-defying movements with the power of your hands or body – no remote needed! A drone without all of the fuss designed to improve hand eye coordination.
Tale Bot Coding Robot - Amazon (Ages 3-5) $70
No phone or tablet is required to operate. Ready to code right out of the box, simply press the command buttons to control the robot to walk, draw, sing, dance, speak and record! Up to 256 commands to learn coding concepts including commands, sequences, and loops
Smart watches with GPS (Ages 5-12)
These smartwatches have GPS enabled tracking for kids and other communication features with parental controls. The tracker gives kids more freedom and parents greater peace of mind. The watches also come with safety features like SOS alerts, Safe Zones, Safe Contact Lists and School Mode for distraction free learning.
Space Talk 4G Smart Watch/GPS for Kids - Best Buy $179
Gizmo 2 - Verizon $100
Go Cube - Amazon $80 (Ages 8+)
This bluetooth enabled speed cube teaches the fundamentals of problem solving and spatial awareness. The cube brings a new, engaging, and smooth twist to the classic puzzle. Quickly charge, connect, and let the app take you through exciting lessons, games, online competitions, and mental exercises with friends and cubers from all over the world.
JBL Portable Waterproof Speaker - Amazon $50 (All ages)
Small portable speaker with great sound that is both waterproof and dustproof.
Lego Education Sets
Lego Coding Express Set $229 (Ages 2-5)
The Lego Coding express set includes 234 LEGO DUPLO bricks and a free optional app to combine physical play with digital Intervention. The coding express teacher guide includes 8 steam online lessons: 4 lessons use the physical set and 4 lessons use the digital app.
Lego Boost Creative Robot Set $159 (Ages 7-12)
Includes 847 LEGO pieces that kids can build and rebuild into 5 cool multifunctional models. The best and most popular robotics toys for boys and girls who love to tinker and learn about science. Use the latest tech like color, distance, and tilt sensors.
Coogam Wooden Puzzle Blocks $12 (All ages)
Comes in a nice box with 15 pieces of wooden blocks in multiple shapes, one wooden board, and a user instruction manual with solutions and 60 challenges. Challenge levels vary from one to five: the higher level, the greater the challenge. Great for any age. Get unplugged and develop executive functioning skills, and improve pattern and shapes recognition.
The Uzzle $45 (Ages 4+)
Popular fast action problem solving board game for the whole family.