Imagine a place where your children can learn how to assemble an interactive robot and make it move, design their own videogame, or produce a short computer animation. RoboFun Workshops, developed by at Vision Education & Media, offers all of that and more.
Similar to RoboFun programs held in schools throughout the city and Westchester, RoboFun Workshops, for ages 6-13, combine art and technology to engage children in creative problem solving through construction projects. In Robotic Traffic Jam, for ages 6-8, and Cosmic Contraptions, for ages 8 and up, kids use LEGO bricks, motors, sensors and simple technology to build their own robots. In February, RoboFun students participated in RoboCupJunior, an international educational competition designed to engage children in robotics; new RoboCupJunior teams are being formed. RoboFun’s latest additions are a digital crafts workshop using the PICO robotics platform, and a claymation workshop to be introduced this summer.
RoboFun sessions are held after school and on Saturdays. Mini camps are offered during school vacations, and summer camp runs in July and August. Teachers, whom Vision CEO and founder Laura Allen, the mother of an 8-year-old robotics fanatic, describes as “grown-up kids … in a good way,” all have degrees in either technology or education; student-teacher ratio never exceeds 10 to one. Groups of five or more can arrange a personalized schedule. RoboFun birthday parties are also available.
Located at 38 East 23rd Street. (212) 245-0444; www.visioneducation.com.
