Two of our judges wrote blogposts on their experience of being a jury panel for the ScienceToyAward. One by Jessica Rowson representing the Institute of Physics, which can be read
here and the other by Laurie Winkless representing the organization Let Toys Be Toys, which can be read
here.
Finalists Science Toy Award 2016 
“This was a toy that encouraged learning-through-exploration – with just a few gears, rods and wheels, and some stuff from your recycling bin, you could produce really cool vehicles / mechanical systems. I also loved the little booklet of engineering tips – it gives enough information to get your imagination flowing, but wasn’t prescriptive. Very gender neutral too. Good work” Laurie Winkless member of the 2016 Science Toy Award expert jury panel.
2. Code Master
“This really taps into the Minecraft generation – exploring computing code through something visual is a really tricky thing to do, but I think this managed it beautifully. Looking through the various levels of challenges, its clear that this game wants kids to learn, to master the basics in order to make more difficult tasks easier… just like ‘real-life’ coding!” Laurie Winkless member of the 2016 Science Toy Award expert jury panel.
“I bough a pack of these card on Kickstarter so have kept an eye on this from the beginning. Its a lot of fun, but its all about mental maths – a tricky combination! Love the mixture of visual and numeric, and love that there are at least two different ways to play the game. Fun, interactive and competitive – a great combo. And again, completely gender neutral” Laurie Winkless, member of the 2016 Science Toy Award expert jury panel .
The Expert Jury gave a Special Mention
“We wanted to give a special mention for the Plui cloud – simple, gentle and fun, and could be used to start a conversation about gravity and air pressure” Science Toy Award 2016 expert jury panel.
“… and Kibi would be great for either a very young child, or for a group that includes children with a range of different needs – its very tactile and inclusive, and the pods are beautifully designed and gender neutral” Science Toy Award 2016 expert jury
The winner of the Science Toy Award 2016 will be chosen by a panel of children of participating primary schools and will be announced on September 2016.
Science Toy Award 