November 22, 2013
FIRST LEGO League does a great job of preparing you for competition. There are numerous phone meetings, endless emails, and on-site scrimmage meets that are made available to participating teams. There are three (or four) judging rounds (Core Values, Project, and Robot Design, and Competition). The reason I’m not quite sure if there are 3 […]
November 19, 2012
It is mid-November, and this past weekend, our Classroom Antics sponsored team, the MindBlasters, took home the Best Robot Design award. Now that the event is over, I wanted to recap my thoughts from this competition. It is my hope this blog helps make other parents aware of what to expect. I was one of […]
April 25, 2012
Written by our fabulous guest blogger, Alicia Wozniak. Follow her @littlewoz. Simply put, LEGOLAND Florida is way cool. It’s no Cedar Point or Disneyland, but there’s a lot to see and do with more than 50 rides, shows, and attractions. The park hours are limited and they are closed some weekdays, but it was […]
March 3, 2012
At the Medina Robofest today, I stumbled upon Nate and Jack using their Android device as a remote control for their LEGO Mindstorms NXT robot. They were controlling the robot’s movements with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet running Android. I thought this was the coolest thing, so I asked them how they configured this. To my […]
October 27, 2011
What is FIRST LEGO League If you are thinking about starting a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team you probably already know what FLL is, but in case you don’t FIRST LEGO League is an international competition organized by a non-profit group called FIRST for kids (ages 9-14 in the USA and Canada, ages 9-16 […]
October 24, 2011
There are several different versions of the LEGO Mindstorms NXT kits available to buy. Which one should you get? Let’s look at our options and decide what’s best for you and your child. The first big choice to make is whether to buy the Retail version or the Education version. The Retail Version of […]
October 20, 2011
On November 18-20, 2011, Abu Dhabi will play host to the 8th annual World Robot Olympiad (WRO). World Robot Olympiad is an event where teams of three students, create, design, and build robot models using LEGO Mindstorm NXT. Teams compete in one of three competition categories guided by their teachers and coaches. This year over […]
October 17, 2011
Classroom Antics is very excited to hear that Dexter Industries announced the release of a new sensor for LEGO MINDSTORMS. Dexter Industries is a leader in advanced sensors and peripherals. The sensor is a proper 6 Degree of Freedom (DOF) Inertial Motion Unit (IMU) sensor. Thus, it measures the rotation and acceleration of robots built […]
October 4, 2011
What is Scratch Programming? Scratch is a programming language for kids that makes it easy to create. It uses a visual-based interface that is like a LEGO building. With this software kids make their own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art. In addition, they can even share their creations on the web and collaborate […]
September 26, 2011
Every parent knows the importance of investing in their child’s education because it will pay off in the long run. Now, I’m all for giving their child the best possible opportunities for success. But, what about today. Now thanks to Classroom Antics and LEGO Mindstorm NXT you don’t have to wait for the payoff. […]