LightUp Educates While Entertaining Kids About Electronics

By Hannah Driscoll

Toys that promise to entertain kids while also teaching a skill are rare, and oftentimes are more for show than education. Not with LightUp, a company devoted to teaching children about the world of electronics and programing through interactive circuit building and coding. Kids will become fascinated when they learn how to make a circuit run, and can even write a custom program for it once built. Offering online support for any questions along the way, children can become familiar with electronic and coding skills. It’s the perfect gift for the curious child interested in how everyday objects work.

Offering two kits to choose from, kids can start building right away with the magnetically snapping blocks. The Edison Kit is about electronic circuit building, with lessons on how common everyday items work. If a child gets stuck, parents won’t have to stress about needing to help out. Just load the LightUp app on to an iPhone or iPad and take a picture of the project. An animated current of electricity will show like an x-ray picture of the circuit from the inside. Hints at how to correct any errors will pop up to prompt the builder on what to fix.

In the second kit, the Tesla, users can program their circuits to do anything they can imagine. Partnered with Codebender, kids can use their browser to easily and quickly program their circuit right from their computer. Make burglar alarms, clocks, or choose from the list of hundreds of programs already set up to install. Each kit is ready to sell straight from the delivery box. Retailers need shelves no bigger than fourteen and a half inches to display each beautifully packaged box.

Created by a teacher and an electrical engineer, the two founders wanted to make a toy that would give the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators the skills to build technology and write code. Using an interactive toy concept, LightUp was born. This debut product is already receiving a lot of attention, getting multiple awards for best educational toy.

There is a third kit launching this summer, the Faraday, which promises to be a continuation of the Edison and Tesla kits. Upload custom code wirelessly via bluetooth to create anything from a jukebox to a sunrise alarm, and much more. These kits are perfect for a boost of learning (and fun) during the summer break.

To explore more opportunities, visit www.lightup.io