Kano teaches your kids to build a computer without breaking the bank

Kano, the company that raised over 1.5 million dollars via Kickstarter last year, has announced that its DIY computer kit for kids is available for sale today. What was once done by Steve Jobs in a California garage can be accomplished by your child in your living room. The thing that really makes it great for kids (and parents too) is the price.

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Available for $149.99, the “simple as Lego” computer and coding kit is powered by the affordable yet robust Raspberry Pi. Children will be able to build their own machine, and learn how to program some simple games along the way. While we have seen other Raspberry Pi computing solutions, this is the first one that is truly designed for kids.

Included with a purchase is everything needed to assemble the hard drive, and a keyboard/trackpad combination for controlling the computer. A display is not included in the set, although you can easily pick one up for an affordable price. The Raspberry Pi model B system, is lightweight and includes an on-board system-on-a-chip with a 700MHz Arm and 512MB of RAM.

Instead of including a manual for piecing the system together, Kano tells a story of how to build the computer. Kano runs on an open-source operating system that can play Minecraft and Pong, as well as create music and stream video.

This is a great opportunity to introduce your children to the world of computing, not just handing them an iDevice to play on. As someone in technology education, I can tell you that I would love for my students to get their hands on something like this. Not only does it encourage self-direction, but it allows children to create something that they made.

You can order the Kano computer kit today for $149.99 with an expected delivery date of later this month.

Source: Business Insider

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