The bright plastic bricks themselves have entered the tech world in a big way with the innovative Lego Mindstorms line. Using a PC, kids 12 and over create routines for their robots, such as following a trail while avoiding obstacles. Lego will go even younger in September with Mybot. He adds that Mindstorms provides a real-world context in which to teach kids basic engineering rules, including some, such as feedback and sensing, that students don't usually encounter until college. Lego, however, is not alone in making highly programmable toys.
Kids can download new personalities from the Web.
Tech for the antitech. When all the robotic and Internet toys start to give you a headache, it's refreshing to discover something like Logiblocs , a toy that manages to be techie and elegantly simple at once. By plugging the blocks together in the right order, kids create their own electronic devices. Despite innovations such as Logiblocs, many parents who recall a childhood spent building forts from cardboard boxes are skeptical. The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.