VTech Kidizoom smart watch DX2 Review

Dylan's favourite birthday present this year was his VTech Kidizoom smart watch DX2.  VTech sent it to us to try out just before he turned 7 and so I wrapped it up for him to open on the day and he was so excited! This is Dylan's first watch and it is so much more than that.  After playing around with the home screen / watch interface that has more than 50 different styles, we started looking more at what the smart watch can do.

There are two cameras, one pointing out the top and then a selfie cam on the front and the watch is now full of various photos of the boys.  You can take a normal photo or you can add frames or funny faces too.  It also takes videos and you can record sound for up to 60 seconds in one go.   Dylan has never had his own camera or anything similar yet so he is loving this feature.

The watch also comes with three games that are really easy to play and suitable from about age 4 upwards (the same age suggestion for the watch).  They make for a great little activity for when you are waiting or have a few minutes to kill or if he needs some chill out time.

There is a built in pedometer which uses the motion sensor although it is the action challenge that really gets Dylan moving.  It gives him a steps challenge and when he achieves it he gets another one.  He was playing on the way down to the beach recently and ended up running in circles down at the beach desperate to get to the next target!

As well as all this there is a stopwatch, calender, calculator and timer as well as the ability to link it to a computer and download other games.  The watch is brilliant fun and great at helping children learn to tell the time.  Dylan is seven and a great age for this although a couple of years younger and a little older would be good too.  The battery life is about one day if it is your new watch and you can't leave it alone and 2 weeks if you are just using it for telling the time, somewhere in the middle for everything else. It charges through a USB wire into a computer or plug socket.

You can find out more about the Vtech kidizoom smart watch DX2 on the Vtech website.  Dylan gives it a big thumbs up (when he stops playing on it) and I am really impressed too.

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Tech will Save Us // Electo Hero Review

Computers are playing a bigger role than ever in our lives and introducing them into play is an obvious move.  We were recently sent an Electro Hero kit from Tech Will Save Us to try out and it combines some of Archie's favourite things - playdough, electricity and Hulk Smash.

The kit is simple and self explanatory and you need access to the internet and playdough alongside everything in the box.  The kit we were sent is superhero based and came with 3 different themed activities.

To start off, you need to either purchase or make 'electrodough'.  There is a recipe on the website but I hadn't seen this before we started so I did use existing playdough we already had.  On the site you can choose which of the three missions to try and you are guided through step by step.  I let the boys try it out together for the first time and Dylan (6) could then read all the instructions.  The moulds for the playdough are colour co-ordinated for your task and the instructions were simple enough that a six year old could follow without help.  The boys built a series of bricks which they lined up on the Hulk mission card and then a big Hulk fist too.

The circuit for this task involved the sound option and when you bring the fist down on the bricks, the playdough conducts the electricity and you hear a Hulk smashing sound.  The boys thought this was absolutely brilliant and it led them to try different shapes  and ways of connecting the wires.  Once you have completed the mission, the app prompts you to try different things like seeing if you can conduct electricity through different materials.

As well as Hulk's challenge, there is a Captain America one and an Iron Man one, both of which are more complex and have different levels, encouraging children to experiment and learn about circuits.  I think this is a great set for children and I can see how even after they have completed all the challenges in the box they can start creating their own as they understand the science behind it and they have all the materials to try something new.

Archie and Dylan are 5 and 6 and I would say they are the perfect age for this game.  The box says 4+ and I think it would be ideal for 4-8 year olds.  It is priced at £24.99 which I think is reasonable  and this would make a great gift for a boy or girl.  This is just one of many kits and I definitely think we will consider one of the others for Dylan's birthday.  There are different levels for children 4+, 8+ and 12+ etc

I love how this game involves technology but in an active and interactive way and it really sparked some conversations with the boys.  They have asked to get it out several times since we initially played with it (and that was only a couple of days ago) and they both give it a big thumbs up!

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This post is in collaboration with Tech Will Save Us

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