When Matt Damon decided the “science the shit out of this” as he was stuck on Mars in Ridley Scott’s space-epic The Martian, one would be forgiven for thinking his parents brought up on Little Bits.
The groundbreaking US start-up is empowering kids to create inventions using easy-to-use electronic building blocks.
At a time when hands-on problem-solving skills are lacking in education and early-stage entrepreneurs seem more interested in starting a company than the value the company will offer, LittleBits mission to build something meaningful seems refreshing.
“We’re trying to trigger an attitude shift, even a personality change – that moment when someone goes from being afraid or intimated or thinking, ‘I’m not technical’, to thinking: ‘Wow! I made that happen’, founder Ayah Bdeir told Wired magazine.
The educational toy market has infamously struggled. My insight suggests they are usually either too didactic or too toy-like and kids have historically ended up getting too little education and little fun. It will be interesting to see where these guys are at 3 years from now. This is a brilliant way for kids to prototype an invention from a very young age, invent a cool and get excited about robotics.
Next time Matt Damon is using every scientific trick in the book to survive; hopefully, a rescue mission of 8-year-old Little Bits aficionado’s will be on that rescue fleet to save him.
