🐸 Fluffy Robots, Flame Throwers and Frog Phones
Plus a free resource to help guardians talk to teenagers about AI companions
Last month, Moxie, a robot designed to help children with emotional, social and academic learning lost funding. Within a few days, families who depend on Moxie for support were left with a ‘dead’ robot friend (as many parents and young people refer to it).
I’m near the end of my first PhD paper that explores child-AI relationships just like this; but papers are slow, thinky, double-checky things to write. So I raised my head to write some quick thoughts and offer a discussion guide to help guardians check in with their children about AI chatbots. You can read & grab the download here.
Get writing! Here's a prompt to spark new story ideas & bedtime tales.Writing prompt: If you answered this phone, what would happen? where would your main character go?
When I saw this on my feed it wormed deep down into my soul and from there lots of silly and fantastical stories have blossomed. I’ve since collected a series of fantastical weird booths for you here.
And if you’re blocked with writing and would prefer to read; here’s a list of notable YA sci-fi and fantasy books that are top of my list to work through in 2025
My favourite playful web picks for the month.DIY Flame throwers: Running out of school holiday project ideas? What about step by step flame thrower guide on on hackster.io…
Sega EMOJI Pager A pager just for kids, limited to emoji’s. I’m incredibly curious if this is selling, if kids are using it and how?
The Organic House by Javier Senosiain, just northwest of Mexico City is a dreamy organic burrow for humans. It also has a slide that zooms down from a shark like mouth.
Gramophone speaker: I’m always delighted when I find something that looks like it’s AI generated, but it’s a real physical thing that exists on Etsy. How impractical. Bless.
Cute CES launches Yukai Engineering debuted a tiny cat robot that blows on your hot tea, and a fuzzy critter that attaches to your bag and looks at passers by. The rest of their robots are just as adorable
Mute distracting notifications, grab a warm cuppa and find a seat in the sun.A Nature article about the benefits of risky play. I grew up on a farm, and after graduating high school was professional slopestyle skier for many years; risky play is a topic close to my heart. A heart that plummets every time I see sanitised playgrounds in urban spaces. More playgrounds with rocks please.
adolescents who had fewer opportunities for positive types of thrill-seeking — such as mountain climbing — were more likely to take negative risks, such as shoplifting1
Something well thunk and beautifully made!A Mending is a RPG ‘keepsake’ game, you weave through the map as you tell the story (alone, or in a group) and are left with a map keepsake of your story travels. This week I bought Koriko, and may have grabbed a mending as a gift (for someone who reads this newsletter- so to you, close your eyes).
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