MatataLab is a new hands-on coding robot for kids as young as four years old

Have you been looking for something educational and fun for your little ones that doesn’t require endless screen time? A new Kickstarter funded robot activity set might be just what your 4-9 year old needs to get away from the tablets and phones.

It’s called MatataLab and with just 7 days left in its campaign, it has already raised over $90,000 smashing its $50,000 goal. MatataLab is a hands-on coding robot set with the purpose of making coding fun and to inspire your child’s creativity.

You may be asking yourself why age four? Isn’t that a little early for a child to learn coding? To answer ‘no’ may actually surprise you. Studies are showing that around age four the brain begins to lay the groundwork for the development of logic. While there are already many educational robot toys on the market, not many of them focus on this crucial stage of brain development. 

Everybody knows that kids play and learn by using their hands and doing things together with other kids. What you may not know is that this is essential for development, and it reminds us of tangible programming which makes code physical, so kids can play with it. With MatataLab’s simple logical games and the robot to make it fun and give instant feedback, coding no longer has to be hard or boring.

MatataLab beleives that by starting young and equipping kids with the understanding of fundamental concepts, they will at a later age be able to grasp abstract concepts of real programming at school and can learn without any stress.

Most people think that programming has to be difficult to learn. For this reason, the creators of MatataLab’s coding block designed it to be extremely simple and physical. Your child can touch the blocks, see the symbols, and already guess what it all means.

Plus, the best part here is that there is no need for a screen or any literacy capability whatsoever. The symbols are just intuitive icons, like an arrow pointing forward means it will make the robot go one step forward, in the same way there are more icons that mean turn left, right, or even a note or melody to create music. That’s it, simple like ABC and what you see is what you get.

If this looks like something you would be interested in, you can pledge $99 or more to get the basic starter kit from MatataLab’s Kickstarter campaign. This set includes 1 MatataBot, 1 Command tower, 1 Control board, 16 Motion blocks, 1 Game map and much more. If all goes as planned, shipping to backers is expected for May 2018.

Subscribe to the 9to5Toys YouTube Channel for all of the latest videos, reviews, and more!