Bee Bots

[SJW]

Just about to recieve a Bee Bot,

 

Just wondered what people who use them think? Best activities? Best Uses?

 

Thx

[Susan]

They are great. Concentrate on teaching the children the skills of operating and go from there!

[Guest]

Beebots are fab. You can link them to pretty much anything when the children know how to use them. Here's a couple of ideas I've used-

* storymap of big book- can make 3d one or just simple drawings on large paper

* use on a large number mat- can you find the number 6/number after 8/number between 10 and 15 etc

* use on large world map/poster to locate different countries when doing international week- i.e find australia/america etc

* set up obstacle course and use direction language etc

 

TTS do some good beebot mats that you can buy but you can make your own really easily. Sparklebox have lots of cards you can use too- some linked to stories, maths, topics etc.

[Guest]

Mine arrived last week, I'd been looking at them for ages. Its great!!! The children have picked up how to control it very easily and we are experimenting with a few of the mats from TTS.

 

Like the idea of the 3D map Bethie....have to try that next half term!

[HappyMaz]

I keep looking at Beebots. Do you think they are suitable for pre-schoolers? And can you use them outdoors?

 

Maz

[Guest]

By the way Bethie, I love sparklebox but hadn't thought of checking out if he had any Bee bot resources!

 

I'll be busy next week print and laminating now!!

 

Thank you.

Edited February 14, 2008 by annie d

[Guest]

We have a beebot at our pre-school, although we do try to keep it for the use of the 3's and over. They are a great teaching tool. Our children were fascinated today using it on a number graph and starting to understand about subtraction and addition.

[Susan]

Yes maz, beebots are very suitable for preschoolers although perhaps not babies!

 

I dont use mine outside as I dont want it to get dropped and broken which I imagine is more likely outside. They need a fairly dirt free surface to move on, Ive had glitches with mine moving with even the tiniest piece of grit but if you were using it on a plastic grid, it might be ok.

[Guest]

Hi Maz

I agree with Susan-they are very pre-school age friendly. We haven't used ours for a while but must get them out when we are back next week. They are the perfect size for 3/4 year olds-even our under threes get the idea of them. What I like about them is that when you program them to make four moves they do just that-move and stop, move and stop, move and stop, move and stop. So the children get the idea of how many they need to move-good for calculating.

Linda

[SJW]

Thx for all the great advice, don't know if i'm doing something wrong but having opened it and had a quick play the beebot doesn't seem to be able to go over the bumps in the mat where its been folded?

[Guest]

I found that the children needed a few sessions in an adult led type activity to ensure that they understand how to operate it, but now they are happy to figure it out for themselves, which really is what they shall be doing.

 

we do keep the mats flat under a mat cause the bee bots wont go over bumps and the children actually made their own mats this week which went down brilliantly, I added a couple of extra tiles and put photos of the children on it which they loved

[Seebee]

Hi we use our Bee bot with 2 and three year olds.

We found that the trailers from the Duplo rest on Bee Bots hook at the back and the children enjoy sending Duplo animals and other things to each other. I don't know if Bee Bot has his own little trailer but that would be great.

[Guest]

I'm sure there are bee-bot trailers in the TTS catalogue. There are loads of great bee-bot accessories there.

[Guest]

I used a bee bot for a task in my full EYPS pathway. I designed my own floor map of 'Berty bee bot's walk to school', used mini lollipop lady and traffic lights etc as part of a road safety day. The kids loved it! These were children of 3 and 4.

 

xx

[Guest]

We have recently bought some for our Reception classes who are loving them. They picked up the programming really quickly and more able were quickly supporting less able with verbal instructions rather than taking over completely. We have been using a shape mat from the company recently combined with a feely bag of 2d shapes. The children take turns working in pairs to pull out a shape and then send the beebot off to that shape on the grid. We do have a few children who just want to madly press loads of buttons and see what happens too!

 

AOB