The Reach and Teach Experience

NOTE: During this time of COVID-19, your child and family's safety is our primary concern. We are now combining Zoom with in-store visits or shelter-in-place drop off of materials.

We are asking our potential participants in this program to have one FREE personal 15-20 minute meeting with us prior to signing up  to help get a better idea of interests, skill level, and assess potential projects. You can schedule this by contacting us via email or phone.

It happens every day. A parent and child will be walking past or walking into the shop and something will catch their eyes. "What's THAT?" We're always happy to show how everything in our shop works, including some of our electronics, motorized K'Nex products, and computer technology. When someone shows real interest he or she is likely to ask "Do you do workshops with this stuff?" The answer is yes! 

Introducing the Reach And Teach Experience 

Reach And Teach offers an exciting opportunity for you to have a Reach And Teach tech experience! You will learn how to build incredible and fun tech gadgets combining K'Nex, electronics, and computer technology.  

NO technical experience is required. The instructor will work with you to determine what kind of project you'd like to work on, take a reservation, and then on the day of your workshop we will provide step by step one-on-one guidance on each part of the project, teaching about the components and how they fit together to make each project, while also instilling knowledge about how these components can be and are used for countless other devices.  

 

Rather than simply learning to follow instructions, our intention is to spark creativity with attendees being able to say "Wait... if it can do that, then I could do this other thing if I just......" 

The workshops are led by Derrick Kikuchi, who started tinkering with computers when he was 10 and launched his technology career with Hewlett-Parkard when he was 17. He has worked in technology for over 40 years, including leading one of Silicon Valley's earliest e-Learning companies, WKMN Training. Today his dream is to help young people become creators of technology, rather than simply being consumers.

Reservations and advance payments are required. We will work with each individual to customize a project based on your interests and the products/technology we have to offer. Below are two examples of the types of projects you might want to undertake. The two workshops below offer take-aways that you can take with you and further tinker with after the workshop. 

We ask you to pay $50 for each hour of one-on-one instruction. All materials are provided for most sessions. However, we have special workshops described below which include an additional cost of materials so that the attendee can take their creation/invention home with them. Also, please check out some of our project ideas at instructables.com.

Sample Workshop Descriptions

Build And Program K'Nex Android Phone Controlled "Bobble" Car

In this workshop, you will learn how to make a K'nex Bobble Remote Control Car. It is so named because the code you will be using for this project is open source software Reach And Teach developed called "Bobble" which runs on an Arduino (microcomputer) board and responds to easy one letter commands to control one motor, one servo, and one analog input from an attached sensor. 

Participants will learn how to build the car, wire the electronics, program the arduino and control it all using various sensors and from any Android tablet or phone. (Participant must bring his or her own Android device.)

Walkaway Kit Includes:

  • Adafruit nRF52832 Bluefruit LE Board (Arduino w/Bluetooth)
  • K'Nex Motor
  • Breadboard and Wiring
  • K'Nex Parts  

Cost: $135. Attendee leaves with $85 worth of components for additional projects.

Photo of two RT Experience projects (Tronex and Ferris Wheel)Build Computer Control Electronic Circuit Kit, TRONEX, and Moving K'Nex Model

In this workshop we will combine the Tronex 72+ Science Workshop with a solid state relay chip and the Adafruit Circuit Playground Arduino to build a computer controlled motorized K'Nex machines.

The Adafruit Circuit Playground is an Arduino (microcomputer) with all sorts of sensors, digital and analog inputs and outputs, switches, and colored LEDs. The included RTPLAYGROUND software makes it easy to prototype a number of different type of projects using this board without having to write code.

The Tronex 72+ mega science workshop combines more than 72 exciting educational experiments that teach realistic concepts of electronics and electricity. Kids will interact with light control, magnetic control, sound control, and touch control. Activities include connecting to AM/FM radio, music sound, color filter, LED light, and many more. This kit is smartly designed so that the main circuit board unit has all the relevant electronic components included. All you have to do is simply connect the wires according to the wiring sequence of each experiment and follow the steps one by one.

Walkaway Kit Includes:

  • Tronex 72+ Amazing Science Kit
  • Relay Chip
  • Adafruit Circuit Playground 
  • K'Nex Motor
  • K'Nex Parts 

Cost: $135. Attendee walks away with $85 worth of components which can be used for dozens of additional projects. 

Tell Us About Your Interests!

We would love to set up your one-one-one Reach And Teach experience. Please full out the information below and we'll get in touch with you to set up your appointment.