The focus on inspiring kids to get into STEM subjects through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) isn’t letting up, and U.S. company FlyBlocks is continuing the trend with its constructible drones for children. Think of combining LEGOs with UAVs and you’ve got FlyBlocks. Pretty clever, right? Let’s take a closer look.
FlyBlocks are essentially do-it-yourself drones developed to engage younger users in the construction of them, regardless of how simple and tailored to children the process may be. The idea is to get kids to feel rewarded from building these things, from engineering them and eventually getting to fly them. It’s a smart approach, based on the most simplest reward-system logic we know. According to UAVexpertNews, FlyBlocks President Arie Sibonney said that the “U.S. education system lags behind other developed countries. Part of our mandate is to foster STEM skills with an affordable drone that caregivers and educators can easily buy online while adding value to children’s education.”
According to UAVexpertNews, a FlyBlocks drone package comes with 72 components. These include motors, blocks, circuit boards, blades, and other parts. Four various drone models can be constructed from these supplies, with four or six axes. The more experienced you are, the more supplies you can use. For entry-level users, the minimum is required to easily assemble a drone.
“With FlyBlocks, our goal is to provide consumers with a multi-challenging product,” said President Arie Sibonney. “We developed the drone to support simple designs for beginners and advanced designs for experts. We see a frontier to be explored in the do-it-yourself drone toy category, and we are excited to introduce the 4 in 1 Build N’ Fly Drone Kit.”
If this sounds like an ideal gift for a nephew, little brother, or your own kid, head on over to the FlyBlocks website and check it out. For only $59.99, this is a pretty great gift to give. It’s one of the best ways to get a young person into realizing that hard work pays off, and to feel a sense of accomplishment and simultaneous joy. Could you imagine how incredible it would have felt, if once you completed building your LEGO set, it could fly? That’s FlyBlocks for you.
We recently reported on the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where programs designed to get children interested in physics and engineering via drones were a prime focus. On the other side of the planet, meanwhile, the Aerial Sports League and their “Game of Drones” has had hundreds of thousands of visitors, many of which are amazed children. Just last week, we covered Florida’s first drone-dedicated park being opened, which will undoubtedly open the floodways for young people learning about aviation, physics, and engineering. The effort to get children integrated deeper into droning and DIY projects is just another step in this united effort.