I think I love children’s books more than most children. I could spend hours in bookstores and libraries, getting lost in the whimsical story lines and illustrations. Now that I am a mother of two young girls, I find particular joy in introducing them to my all-time favorite characters—Ferdinand, Ms. Frizzle, Amelia Bedelia—and in discovering new stories that are quickly becoming their classics.
When my four-year-old (think: a little Ramona Quimby) had a rocky transition to preschool, one of the first tools I used to help her navigate the situation was a book—The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn. For weeks at drop off, like Chester Raccoon and his mother, we kissed each other’s palms, and her anxiety melted away. As a parent, I was reminded of the incredible value of books, as prescriptions for everyday problems.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
