Piper Computer Kit: Award-Winning, STEAM Learning, with Raspberry Pi, Drag-n-Drop Coding, StoryMode, Games, Python, and Amazing Projects!

The media could not be loaded. My husband and I purchased the new version of the Piper for our 8-year old son a few months ago. We absolutely love the product and what it is doing for our kid!Overall:It’s a great product to introduce your child to engineering, computers, and coding. I love that the frame is made out of (sustainable) wood and that part of the product experience is building the computer itself. There’s a sense of accomplishment and ownership that comes from having built your own computer that a child doesn’t get with a finished product. I also love that it gives our son a better understanding of the inner workings of the hardware.Building:The box comes with a Raspberry Pi circuit board, battery, speaker, screen, wires, transistors, switches, buttons, pallets, screws, and a detailed step-by-step Blueprint that your child follows to build his computer.The first go around when he got our son his first Piper at 6 years of age, it took 3-4 hours with me and my son building it. The second time, when he was 8, it took him a little over 2 hours - and he did it all on his own!Finished Product:The Piper comes embedded with MineCraft, Piper Mission, Scratch, Sonic Pi, Python, and programming software. Also, there is a guide on how to use the programming software.Difference between Version 1 and 2:This 2.0 version is a significant upgrade of the Piper we got a few years ago. Here are some of the big improvements:- Larger screen- Speaker gets embedded with the screen, creating less clutter- Less glitches - feedback directly from my son- Computer loads faster- Longer charger cord, which allows your child to work on the computer while it can charge at an outlet- More efficient battery- More circuits and wiring- Easier to build (but your child needs to pay close attention to the Blueprint!)Impact on Kids:The most beautiful thing about the Piper computer is the impact it’s having on our son. He naturally and understandably has a sense of pride in the fact that he has put together a computer all on his own and he already knows how to do coding. Piper has positively affected the trajectory of this young man. You can even watch a 3-minute ‘interview’ with him as he finished putting together his Piper 2.0: https://youtu.be/LcQbSTlPqdo

The Piper kit is very well made and has an intuitive build process complete with actual blueprints. My 10 year old daughter didn't require any assistance (although I sat nearby watching her, just because it was cool). In fact, I wasn't allowed to help. She made fast work of the build and kept saying out loud, "I can't believe I'm building an actual computer." and "I just can't believe I'm doing this." What I liked watching was that, although it was easy to build - it wasn't "too easy" because she actually needed to read each portion of the directions, which are very well designed and written. The quick start guide gives the kid the push they need: charge battery/ build it/ start rolling with the software. As a professional, I'm an Instructional Technology Designer (and jr. high teacher), so I'm hyper critical of products that have less than stellar directions for kids. The provided prompts and diagrams are excellent; my daughter was totally engaged and really loved the process. If there's a question on how to do something, the online support features are provided. My kid immediately got things online and began the programming adventure with great enthusiasm. I love that this kit utilizes the Raspberry Pi board - very expandable and there are TONS of fun experiments. The provided software has a look that echoes of Minecraft and will no doubt engage; it provides great tutorials/challenges along the way that requires her to "get her hands dirty" in terms of physical building/install and critical thinking. This product explores some of the more important early fundamentals of computing (binary/circuits/logic gates). The fact that she gets to build the computer frame with the provided hardware adds the kinesthetic magic that as a parent, I appreciate. Kids too often are only consumers of technology - the Piper makes them a producer of technology - Powerful and inspiring. Few tech products do what this cool kit can do, and I mean beyond teaching programming alone - but yeah, it does that too. Highly recommended - it's like a digital chemistry set.

I bought this computer kit for my grandson but after he put it together the screen would not work. I then brought it to someone who has put this type of thing together before and is knowledgeable in technology. He also could not get the screen to work. Amazon helped tremendously in putting me in touch with the company and after several calls to try to straighten this out, the company did send out a new computer kit which I very much appreciate. My grandson and his father put it together and it is working. My grandson is really enjoying this computer, and it was a great experience for he and his father to work together on this. I am so grateful to Amazon for their help but also am grateful that the company responded and followed through in sending out a new computer kit.