Both StikBot and Klikbot scored as excellent for STEAM attributes in Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide in partnership with the Toy Association.

StikBot, which is distributed by Brainstorm, celebrates its seven-year anniversary in 2022. Since its launch in 2015, there have been many incarnations including the newer Klikbot range. StikBot was the first social-sharing toy of its kind, allowing children to create stop-frame animations using their StikBot figures and the green screen tech on the StikBot Central app. Sharing with friends and on YouTube, views on the StikBot Central channel have now reached a staggering 478m.

The products were given STEAM accreditation from Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide in partnership with the Toy Association. The extensive reports, carried out in August 2022, examine whether a toy meets the Toy Association’s STEAM toy assessment framework – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics – by looking at the characteristics of a ‘good toy’ along with its prime STEAM attributes and in which STEM categories a product falls.

The StikBot range was stringently assessed and scored ‘excellent’ across the prime STEAM attributes which include real world relevance, active involvement, logical thinking, arts, free exploration, arts and step-by-step learning.

Klikbot also scored highly in the report, rating ‘excellent’ for prime STEAM attributes for children aged 6+, encouraging a hands-on, logical and creative experience – expected at the core of every STEAM toy.

The report found that engaging with the StikBot and Klikbot figures and app can help build fine motor and perceptual skills, executive functioning, imagination and creativity, language and communication as well as enhancing social skills when working in pairs.

Debra Tiffany, marketing manager at Brainstorm, who has distributed StikBot since its UK launch, said: “We are delighted that both StikBot and Klikbot have received STEAM accreditation as it’s a brand Brainstorm believes passionately in. The open-ended play possibilities which enhance learning in all STEAM areas is testament to the creators of the product, Zing. The STEAM attributes are a wonderful by-product of playing with StikBot and Klikbot, as children love to collect different characters and simply have fun playing. It’s a real ‘teaching by stealth’ toy.”

She added: “While the toy also has a social-sharing aspect, we were pleased that the report recognised that children can engage in positive, legal and most importantly safe behaviour when learning to share their StikBot and Klikbot movies. We know that these attributes are important for parents who can be reassured that the STEAM qualities of the toy can be enjoyed and used to educate.”