Every year I tell myself that I should start my Christmas shopping earlier… but here I am again. If you are anything like me and are looking for a nearly last minute gift, and you happen to be shopping for a technically savvy 11-13 year old, I may be able to help! A few months ago I reviewed a 6 in 1 Educational Solar Kit (a great gift for younger kids) from OWI that I had a lot of fun building with my kids. OWI sent out their new 535 Robotic Arm Edge Kit ($53.95 retail but on great sale from OWI right now) for me to try. As the recommended age for this kit is 13+ , my 6 and 3 year olds were not going to be helping with the construction.  Read the rest of the story...

6.022 x 10²³. I keep random bits of geeky information, such as Avogadro’s number (the number of atoms in a mole) in my head. If you do too, you may be ready for Geekdad. This daily blog (affiliated with Wired Magazine) is a wonderfully random sampling of things of interest for the tech savvy, sci-fi addicted geeks among us. The broad subject range (Lord of the Rings to cyber security) offers diversion and education alike, with a special focus on geeking it up with kids; geeklets, according to these dads.  Read the rest of the story...

Ahh, science. Here at our house, we are quite comfortable with our geekiness and make an effort to pass it along to the kids. While it’s easy to talk about things like littering while on a walk or the birds that visit the backyard, the subject of energy takes some creativity. The people at OWI have been building solar powered toys since 1980, and their easy to build kit gave us the perfect opportunity to talk about energy sources and renewable vs. non-renewable energy, right in our own kitchen. OWI sent the Five Hens a Robotikit 6 in 1 Educational Solar Kit (retail price $19.95) to try out, and the Little Red family was lucky enough to play with it.  Read the rest of the story...