This Build-Your-Own Touchscreen Computer Will Help Your Kid Learn to Code

Though most people rely on computers and smart phones every single day, many of us have almost no clue how these machines work. The coding education startup Kano hopes to change that by showing kids how to assemble their own computers with step-by-step instructions. And now, it’s teaching kids how to put together touchscreens.

Kano’s new Computer Kit Touch lets you build a touchscreen computer that you can use to play Kano's coding games. It comes equipped with a 10-inch screen that you hook up to a Raspberry Pi computer, as well as a separate keyboard with a trackpad.

Like the rest of Kano’s products, putting together the computer is simple enough. You just need to follow a streamlined set of illustrated directions akin to what you’d get if you were putting together a set of LEGOs. In the process, kids can learn the basics of computing without getting too overwhelmed by tech specs.

Once assembled and booted up, the computer runs on Kano’s custom educational operating system. Kids can add apps like YouTube and Whatsapp, play Kano’s coding games, making art projects, and explore Kano World, the social learning community where users share the cool things they’ve come up with using their own kits. The touchscreen kit is essentially a revved-up version of the original computer kit, adding in the ability to draw and gesture with the touchscreen as part of its coding games and challenges, while still allowing you to use a keyboard if you want to.

It seems obvious that a kid-focused company like Kano would want to get into the touchscreen game. Many children love tablets and other touchscreens, much to the chagrin of parents and education experts who worry that so much screen time might be harming their development. In 2017, Common Sense Media reported that 42 percent of kids between the ages of 0 and 8 had their own tablet at home. Parents who are concerned about their kids spending an unhealthy amount of time with touchscreens might feel more at peace giving them something like Kano, which combines the fun parts of an iPad—i.e., access to YouTube—with games and challenges that are specifically tailored to helping kids learn.

Kano launched its original computer kit on Kickstarter in 2013, and has recently been expanding its offerings beyond the computers themselves. Earlier this year, the company came out with a Harry Potter wand kit, and prior to that, the company debuted a motion sensor, a camera, and a light-pixel array, among other gadgets, all designed to help kids learn coding skills.

The touchscreen kit sells for $279.