Wooden toy for toddlers doubles as code bootcamp
Inspired by building blocks, Cubetto teaches computer talk
It took a tentative step forward, turned to the left, took another step and then came to rest under a tree — at least, a drawing of one.
Cubetto does not actually walk, but the smiling wooden robot does wheel around under its own power, along a course charted by the human behind the machine.
With a $225 US pricetag, it is an expensive vehicle for play. Although a remote-controlled car may have been simpler, and cheaper, there was a purpose to the exercise: teaching children as young as three the basics of computer programming and developing technological and critical thinking skills.
As parents increasingly grow eager to give their children an edge in technology skills by getting them to think like a computer early, startups and entrepreneurs see potential in creating toys with a focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics — popularly referred to as STEM.
It used to be that mass-market toys were the purview of the Mattels and Fisher-Prices of the world. But new financing avenues, like crowdfunding, have made it easier for entrepreneurs to get into the market.
Cubetto’s creator, Primo Toys, developed its first prototype for testing in 2013. The next year, the London-based company took the prototype to the Emerge Education incubator, which helps entrepreneurs learn about the educational toys market. In 2015, Cubetto went to the Highway1 incubator, which focuses on hardware development and production, and last year the company raised $1.6 million US in a Kickstarter campaign.
Filippo Yacob, the founder of Primo Toys, was hoping to market to toy buyers and retailers when he attended the Toy Industry Association’s New York Toy Fair in February. Yacob said he was inspired by classic building blocks to have children teach themselves coding fundamentals.
“This block-based programming language looks and feels like a toy but is in fact a procedural programming language,” he said.
He officially started his company on Nov. 20, 2013 — the same day his son was born.
“When I found out that I was going to be a dad, I started thinking about the things I wanted my son to learn,” he said.
One of those things was coding, a skill set that Yacob says he believes is now as critical as reading or math.
“It is 21st-century literacy,” he said. “The idea behind Cubetto was to create a tool that would make that literacy accessible to this age group, 3 to 6.”
According to Adrienne Appell, the director for strategic communications at the Toy Industry Association, this segment — which did not even exist 20 years ago — has rapidly become a major part of the toy market.
A Cubetto kit includes the robot, a programming console and instruction tiles. It also comes with a play mat that represents the robot’s world and a book, which together allow players to follow a story line that the robot roams through. Multiple books and play mats are available, but young coders are free to design their own adventure rather than using a set story if they prefer.
Since the kits started shipping to consumers in November, reactions have been generally positive.
The Toy Insider, which reviews toys and makes purchasing recommendations to its readers, included Cubetto in its list of top STEM toys for children ages 3 to 5, although the publication has not yet formally reviewed it.
“It’s a really tangible example of coding, which is sort of an abstract concept,” said Marissa DiBartolo, a senior editor at The Toy Insider. “Kids may not even realize that’s what they’re doing.”
The popular wisdom on computers and “screen time” has been mixed. Some parents are certainly hesitant to put their children in front of screens too early.
In DiBartolo’s view, technology is an important part of the modern world, and finding ways to introduce technological principles at a young age helps children begin to develop necessary skills.
“If you don’t expose them to any type of technology, it’s not very beneficial to them,” she said. “Everything we look at today functions because of code. It’s like learning a new language, and the younger you start learning a new language, the better.”
Other startups are also targeting different segments of the STEM market. For example, Magical Microbes produces science experimentation kits, including one called MudWatt that teaches users about biochemical properties by having them create a mudbased battery.
STEM toys, and the skills they promote, are also finding a place in the classroom. Yacob said one of his goals was to see a Cubetto kit in every earlylearning environment worldwide.
Teachers see the benefits of learning to code beyond just allowing students to create new computer programs.
Amy Flannery, the director of curriculum and instruction for the Wilson School District in Reading, Penn., said that coding helped turn children into what she calls “problem finders,” rather than just problem solvers.
“What’s important about this for children is the logic. It’s the ‘learning to build’ mindset” of finding problems that need to be solved, she said.
Thinking this way, Flannery said, students can figure out and try a path to solve a problem, and if doesn’t work, they will still have learned something they can apply to their next attempt.