Modern parents will recognize the dilemma: we want our children to learn about hardware engineering and design at birth but we don’t want them using soldering irons until they can keep their heads upright and/or develop gross motor skills. What’s a parent to do?
Enter Tinkermite, a Kickstarter project aimed at offering the wee ones the opportunity to understand the rudiments of mobile phone design without an advanced degree in telecommunications technology. The toy consists of a small puzzle featuring phone parts like the battery, CPU, and memory chips as well as a front draw-and-wipe screen so the little ones can pretend they’re using Dad’s iPad.
Creator Jacob Sullivan designed the toy after realizing kids could learn basic electronics concepts alongside the traditional educational toys.
The Tinkermite will cost $50 and they’re $3,000 into a $15,000 pledge so there’s a small chance this might not make it. After all, parents know all too well that kids don’t want fake phones. My kids have been sliding to unlock since before they were born, I’d be curious to see what they make of this wooden tablet. However, if your little Alexandra Graham Bell is interested in sucking on some non-toxic wooden memory chips, this may be just the treat.
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