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Retailers Join the STEM Education Movement with littleBitslittleBits, the easy-to-use platform of electronic building blocks that empowers everyone to create inventions, large and small, is reinventing retail for the holiday season. The company today announces the addition of several retail partners in the U.S. and around the world, the company's widest expansion to date. Retailers Best Buy, Microsoft Stores, select Macy's, select Target (News - Alert) stores, Barnes & Noble and Marbles: The Brain Store will be featuring the company's two new products: littleBits Rule Your Room Kit and littleBits Gizmos & Gadgets Kit, 2nd Edition, nationwide beginning this October. This fall the company celebrates the 5th anniversary of its launch, having since sparked a global invention craze with its innovative platform of color-coded, magnetic electronics. The company has recently introduced two brand-new kits for this holiday season. The littleBits Rule Your Room Kit empowers kids to create touch-activated inventions to control their stuff, providing endless hacks for a kid to personalize their universe. The Gizmos and Gadgets Kit, 2nd Edition transforms kids' screen time into hands-on, powerful STEM/STEAM learning through endless hours of invention-based play and problem-solving. This is the first kit that enables kids to create connected inventions they can control via the littleBits Invent app with their smartphone or tablet. "We are thrilled to kick off the holiday season in such a robust way this year with the help of an amazing roster of retail partners who believe in our mission and are going to great lengths to support our product," said Ayah Bdeir, CEO and Founder of littleBits. "We've seen significant growth since our inception in 2011 and 2016 is our biggest retail push to date. From STEM/STEAM education to the Maker Movement to gender neutrality, each of our partners embody the brand values of littleBits and we look forward to working with them to ensure littleBits empowers shoppers across the country to unleash their inner inventor." October marks the beginning of littleBits' major retail rollout. Key retailer plans include:
In the world-renowned department store Harrod's, littleBits will be featured in the children's holiday magazine and will be giving shoppers a hands-on taste of invention with in-store workshops and other activities for children. littleBits are gender, age and language agnostic, making them a universal tool for teaching STEM/STEAM and developing problem-solving, creative confidence and collaboration skills. littleBits has been adopted by over 14,350 educators in over 4,000 schools as a tool for 21st-century teaching and learning. With products such as the Gizmos & Gadgets Kit, 2nd Edition, parents can reinvent passive screen time and extend learning from the classroom to the home through fun, empowering invention. For more on littleBits, visit: www.littlebits.cc. About littleBits littleBits is the New York-based hardware startup that is on a mission to Democratize Hardware by empowering everyone to Create Inventions, large and small, with its innovative platform of easy-to-use Electronic Building Blocks. The company's innovative building blocks snap together with magnets to allow anyone to build, invent, and prototype with electronics independent of age, gender and technical background. From classrooms to homes, littleBits is driving excitement for invention-based learning through invention challenges and in-classroom curriculum. The company is also dedicated to successfully bridging the gender gap with its gender-neutral platform, inspiring young girls and young boys to unleash their creativity and embrace STEAM (Science, Technology, Art and Mathematics) through the invention cycle. littleBits is being used by more than 12,000 educators across the world as an engaging tool for making STEAM more accessible to all students and preparing them for the jobs that haven't been invented yet. The company was founded in 2011 by MIT (News - Alert) Graduate, TED Senior Fellow and Cofounder of the Open Hardware Summit, Ayah Bdeir, and has grown to be a global leader in hardware. Bdeir was named one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business, one of Inc.'s "35 Under 35" and "Entrepreneurs to Watch," one of Entrepreneur's "10 Leaders to Watch," one of Popular Mechanics' "25 Makers Who Are Reinventing the American Dream," and one of MIT Technology Review's "35 Innovators Under 35." The littleBits platform includes more than 9 kits and 67 interoperable modules with millions of products sold to over 150 countries around the world. The littleBits invention app takes inventing to new levels with thousands of additional invention ideas and challenges. The company was named in CNN's "Top 10 Startups to Watch", one of the CNBC Next List, has been profiled by the BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Wired, Popular Mechanics, and was accepted into the prestigious Disney (News - Alert) Accelerator program, in which cutting edge technology and media companies are invited to receive the creative expertise, mentorship and resources of The Walt Disney Company in order to develop innovative new entertainment experiences and products.
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