Orboot – Review

A few weeks ago we were sent a Orboot globe by Shifu to review.

We were excited to receive this globe and test it out, the girls love using their tablets, any excuse to use some technology. This product is aimed at children aged 4+. It is a augmented reality globe which you use alongside a kindle/tablet/phone to bring the globe to life!

You need to download the Orboot application and then you can get started. Adult input is required to choose which areas to download onto the device. You can add – Animals, cultures, inventions, monuments and maps. We downloaded all of them although this did mean it took around 20 minutes to completely download all of the information. We tried to use an Ipad mini but this didn’t have the required capabilities to enable the app to work.

You can use Orboot on the listed devices : 

In the box: You receive the globe, a passport, stamper, instruction booklet and book of stickers to use in the passport. These are all fantastic extras to help you make the most of travelling with Orboot.

There are 3 sections on the app to explore: Explore, World Bank and Mysteries.

Within Explore you use the tablet holding it over the countries of the world on the globe and when it interacts with the ‘star’ image on the globe it becomes interactive, with lots of information and facts.

World bank is where you collect coins from places your have visited and from the questions you have answered.

Mysteries is a scavenger hunt, you complete challenges of varying difficulty. The girls particularly enjoyed looking for the items across the globe and locating countries.

Augmented reality is becoming every more popular. Orboot is  ‘A perfect STEAM toy for the ever-curious kids that sparks their imagination and curiosity. It helps build knowledge, linguistic and cognitive skills.’

Here Big A shows us how it works:

 

This product has been funded by Kickstarts with ‘backers’ from over 60 countries.

What we thought:

The girls loved playing with it and have spent lots of time trying to visit all the places to collect the coins, they think it is great fun and Big A said ‘It will help me with my school projects’.

As a parent I love the idea to help teach children about the world in a fun way whilst they believe they are having their ‘tech time’.  My children have enjoyed using the app and also the passport with stickers. I will use this with my childminding children as an educational tool to help children understand the world.

If you would like to buy your very own Orboot you can purchase from Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shifu-Orboot-Educational-Augmented-Reality/dp/B075WW3JKQ

The Orboot blog is also fantastic for lots of ideas how to use your Orboot to extend learning. Within the Orbooter’s guide there are a few ideas to help engage groups of children or family these will be helpful after the initial excitment of the globe wears off.

*We received this Orboot for free in exchange for a honest review, all opinions are our own.