Kano Mouse; Kano Headphones; Kano Webcam
kano.me/uk

Kano Computer is a company that focuses on familiarising kids with computers and teaching them the basics of coding young. There are a huge number of toys on the market these days with a view towards teaching children to code – advanced versions of the button-sequence-operated robot we used to play with in primary school, for example. Things have come a long way from that robot; programming toys today are taking a more serious and advanced approach to preparing kids for their digital future, and this is particularly true of Kano, who have actually produced a laptop PC specifically angled towards kids using it to code.

Now that you have the essential context, I’ll talk about the items we actually received: namely, several cool accessories that the company sells in support of its PC. We received a mouse, a set of headphones and a webcam. These aren’t just upsold accessories in the Kano aesthetic, although they do all look fantastically on-brand – they're actually learning tools of their own, in that every item is buildable. Not only this, but the headphones and mouse in particular are designed in such a way that you can see many of the elements that go into building them, further familiarising children with them as they use them.

Headphones
£30

Impressively, these headphones are wireless, with up-to-date Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity – the first proof you need, if you needed any, that these are more than just an accessory to a kid’s toy. These are proper headphones, with a very decent audio quality as well as a build-in mic, and an extremely impressive 18 hours battery life. A detail that I really like about these headphones is that they can limit the volume levels of their output so that it’s suitable for kids.

They are fun and easy to build, as well as extremely self-explanatory, and their design has a retro, almost cartoonish look that I enjoyed.

Mouse
£20

This mouse is a vibrant orange that matches the colour of the Kano PC and Kano brand. It’s made for kids’ hands, making it comfortable to use, and like the headphones, the mouse is buildable on arrival. It arrives in a few clear, simple parts – the top, the base, the wheel etc., making it an accessible build for kids of all ages (with a parent to help younger kids, of course!) It also has transparent sides, meaning you can see inside to the gubbins – not something I’m fond of in electronics for adults, but for kids, it’s a great way to make kids further aware of how a mouse and other electronics work.

You can, of course, use the Kano PC with a different mouse, or with no mouse at all, but this mouse continues the aesthetic as well as the learning, and for only £20, I think it’s a cute and fun addition to the overall experience.

Webcam
£30

In some ways, I’m reluctant to give kids a webcam, but at the same time, we live in a different age to the one I grew up in! They can use the webcam to chat to friends or distant relatives, participate in school remotely, as well as taking photos for stop motion projects and the like. A bright yellow, this webcam has the same cheery energy as the other accessories. It has a bendable stem that means you can pose it in any angle and position you need, and whilst the length of the connection makes it bit short for use with regular PCs, the high-up position of some of the Kano’s USB ports means this isn’t an issue, and in fact reduces clutter.

My favouite feature about the webcam is that is has different modes – regular or macro, and then a privacy mode, just to make extra sure that the camera isn’t streaming when it shouldn’t. This is a very thoughtful touch, given that it’s a product for kids, and the modes are easily changeable with the slide of the camera cover.

 All in all, these computing accessories are affordable, fun, and serve their functions well, as well as contributing to a larger over-all learning experience. Do you need them? No, definitely not. However, the Kano PC itself costs £300 - a pricey kid’s toy, but an extremely cheap computer; in comparison, all of these accessories are small and fun add-ons that not only suit the aesthetic and have child-specific features, they also encourage your kids to build the pieces themselves. Whilst learning to code, and therefore learning the building blocks of software, they also learn some of the physical building blocks of computer in a fun and accessible way.

I think it’s a fantastic idea; my dad used to show us how to code when we were in primary school, and whenever a computer at his office died, he’d bring it home for us to dismantle. Getting to know these sorts of things at a young age makes them much more approachable as adults, and with the way the world is going, the next generation are going to need those skills even more than we do.

4.5/5

Pros:
Functional
Do everything you’d need them to
Privacy setting on webcam
Kid-friendly volume limiting on headphones
Mouse and headphones are buildable
Bright colours
Good value

Cons:
Definitely add-ons rather than essentials