KIBO by Kinderlab
Impact
With KIBO’s programmable wooden building blocks, kids discover essential learning tools such as sequential thought, cause and effect, and more, for children to discover new achievements on their own. With the trial and error nature of programming KIBO, young children accomplish something that is not only beneficial in problem solving but also supports emotional growth through the determination of following through to get the desired results.
KIBO is based on 20 years of research by leading early childhood development researcher, Professor Marina Bers from Tufts University.
Accomplished
- Need Accomplished
- Evaluation Developing
- Sustainability Developing
- Replication & Scalability Accomplished
- Partnerships Accomplished
- Capacity Accomplished
- Challenging & Relevant Content Accomplished
- STEM Practices Accomplished
- Inspiration Accomplished
- Under-Represented Groups Developing
Our KIBOs take on some important jobs. In one lesson, students program them to rescue baby bears that are lost in deep dark caves. (Our caves are constructed with old cardboard boxes, the imagination of the students dresses them up.) They love to train KIBO to navigate the twists and turns of our caves. Most of all, they love programming with the light sensor and the light – if the cave gets dark and scary, then KIBO should turn on her flashlight!”
Design Principles
The programs in this database clear a high bar. STEMworks reviewed each program against the Design Principles for Effective STEM Philanthropy. Programs must be Accomplished (
) across all Design Principles, or be Developing (
) in a maximum of three areas.
Overarching Principles
-
Need Accomplished
Identify and target a compelling and well-defined need.
-
Evaluation Developing
Use rigorous evaluation to continuously measure and inform progress towards the compelling need identified.
-
Sustainability Developing
Ensure work is sustainable.
-
Replication & Scalability Accomplished
Demonstrate replicability and scalability.
-
Partnerships Accomplished
Create high impact partnerships.
-
Capacity Accomplished
Ensure organizational capacity to achieve goals.
STEM Principles
-
Challenging & Relevant Content Accomplished
Offer challenging and relevant STEM content for the target audience.
-
STEM Practices Accomplished
Incorporate and encourage STEM practices.
-
Inspiration Accomplished
Inspire interest and engagement in STEM.
-
Under-Represented Groups Developing
Identify and address the needs of under-represented groups.
Program Overview
KIBO is a robotic kit specifically designed as a STEM education platform for young children aged 4-7 years old. With KIBO, children imagine, build, decorate, program, and bring their own robots to life! Learning with KIBO is fun, imaginative and easy. Your youngest learners will playfully discover STEAM concepts by coding with wooden building blocks, create programs and sequences and learn the Engineering Design Process. Young children learn by doing. KIBO gives them the chance to collaborate in groups and to produce ideas that are physical and tangible—exactly what their young minds and bodies need. KIBO does this without requiring screen time from PCs, tablets or smartphones. Designed for open-ended play, as well as structured curricula, KIBO enables kids to make almost anything they can think of: a character from a story, a carousel, a dancer, a race car, a helicopter. With KIBO, young children can become programmers, engineers, designers, artists, dancers, directors, choreographers, and writers – anything they want to be. The program is standards based, and cross curricular, so teachers can easily incorporate KIBO into their existing lesson plans. KinderLab Robotics, makers of KIBO, also provides research-based curriculum and training to help teachers introduce STEM into their classrooms. KinderLab’s mission is universal STEM literacy. Despite increasing emphasis on STEM in schools, significant gaps exist by gender, race, and income. Research also shows that early childhood is the optimal time to introduce STEM, but schools typically wait until middle or high school. KinderLab developed KIBO to address these issues.
Funders and Partners
National Science Foundation, Brain Robotics Capital, Netposa Technologies, EdTech Accelerator Fund, Andrew Rallis, Charles and Charlene Hyle, John Dugan