Screen-Free Toys That Make Coding For Preschool Astoundingly Easy

Coding is all the rage right now. Especially in technology education, coding is everywhere! But how early is too early to start your kids learning to code? You might be surprised to know that kids can begin coding as early as three with a new screen-free coding toy on the market. Let us introduce you to Mochi, the perfect way to learn coding for preschool.

We recently had the awesome opportunity to play and explore with our own Mochi Robot. Our adorable toy testers are 4 and 5.  We will walk you through our entire experience with Mochi, and we are pretty sure you will want one too!

What Is Mochi?

Mochi Robot is a screen-free toy that introduces children ages 3-6 to coding and technology. Mochi is hands-on and tons of interactive fun.

Your early learners are introduced to coding in an age-appropriate way using appealing themes such as planets, animals, shapes, letters, and colors. Mochi uses a unique combination of crafting, coding, storytelling, and fun!

 

Why Coding For Preschool?

Simply put, technology is here and not going anywhere for the foreseeable future. If anything, technology will continue to advance as it has for decades. Our children’s futures, whether we like it or not, will be intertwined with technology one way or another.

We are living in a world overly consumed with screens, and we loved the idea of a toy that introduced coding without a computer or media screen. So when we were approached with the idea of giving Mochi a try, we jumped on the opportunity. We were curious about how you would code without a computer. We were also interested to learn how you would teach a preschooler coding.

Many children have already been exposed to apps or interactive media by preschool age. Nowadays, there are so many learning apps and games available to preschoolers that we found the idea of Mochi rather refreshing. Preschool is a fantastic age to learn through play and experiences with hands-on activities.

 

How Does Mochi Teach Coding To Preschoolers?

We received our Mochi Robotics kit complete with the planets – outer space adventure. Once we put it together, which took less than about 30 minutes, we were amazed. Mochi is smart, and the programming board can sense when the robot is near. It can activate or “wake up” on its own.

Our first experience was watching and listening to the planet story interactively told to our preschool testers, by Mochi. Let’s just say they had never seen anything like the Mochi Robot before.

 

As we explored Mochi further, we realized the robot is compatible with Legos, and you can even decorate your robot. This personalizes the robot for each child; we thought this was such a nice touch. What child doesn’t like playing with Legos? This option also allows for more ways to play with Mochi.

Or children who prefer painting or decorating can express themselves through creativity. With multiple robot craft piece options, the creative possibilities are endless. The craft pieces you can choose range from a space/rocket ship, a sailboat, or a truck. Talk about some adventurous options!

Once you personalize your Mochi Robot and get familiar with the instructions (which were incredibly easy to understand), you can begin to code.

Your child will have a set of coding blocks that easily plug right into the programming board. Your child is in full control of what Mochi Robot will do. The coding blocks are fantastic for practicing fine motor skills as their little fingers work to place them inside the board. Next, they push the big yellow center button and watch Mochi Robot navigate their code. It was an enjoyable experience to watch their self-confidence soar as they witness Mochi fulfill their plans.

 

 

You also get a vibrant canvas floor story map; Mochi can tell the story on this map with code directions found in the companion book. Or you can also make your own codes and try to land on certain blocks of the story map since the layout is a grid. You can code plenty of options on the story map, or code anywhere you have a large flat surface for Mochi Robot to move.

 

 

We are extremely impressed with Mochi. It is easy to set-up, easy to use, and our preschoolers were ecstatic to play with it. Mochi has been well played with here and still going strong. Coding for preschool was a wonderful experience for us. Here at Homeschool Mastery Academy, we appreciate any toy that can combine hands-on play and technology without a screen. Mochi gets an A+ from us!

 

Head over and take a look at Mochi for yourself.