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Volume III, Issue 6 ~ June 2025


Greetings!

Bee-Bot Buzz helps you make the most of the Bee-Bots, Blue‑Bots, and other related STEM products we offer for your young learners. Engage students in curriculum concepts and problem-solving with these fun robots and find out how other educators use them.


In this issue:

  • Update! Problem-Solving with Bees and Blues
  • New! Play Ball! Bundle with Blue-Bot
  • ISTE's New STEM Guide is Focus of Conference Forum
  • Charging Tips and Essential Accessories for Your Bots
  • New! Customer Stories and Mats
  • Quick Links to Resources


Click to view archives of past Bee-Bot Buzz issues.

Update! Problem-Solving with Bees and Blues

Problem-Solving with Bee-Bot is redesigned and improved. It's now Problem-Solving with Bees and Blues! What's different?


  • Choose Bee-Bot or Blue-Bot for printed and on-line activities
  • Improved Card Mat support
  • New activities that use repeat loops
  • New Card Mat PDF with images


Problem-Solving with Bees and Blues, described on the Robot Curriculum web page, offers a series of challenges based on a grid that use Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot's basic 90° turns. Initial exercises focus on following simple routes, ideal for younger students, while later challenges introduce more complex routes that provide hands-on practice with directionality and mapping. Other challenges introduce Cartesian coordinates and emphasize prediction, logic, sequencing, and mapping. These challenges are equally useful for an individual or small group of students to solve.


The curriculum includes a teacher's guide with objectives and 150 self-contained, easy-to-print student challenges. Ten new challenges use repeat loops, which Blue-Bot can use in the online mats. Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot users can also complete these challenges without using loops.


Current Problem-Solving with Bee-Bot licensees already have access to the new Blue-Bot materials at no extra charge.


New licenses include both Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot activities. Just choose the bot you want to use and start coding!

New! Play Ball! Bundle with Blue-Bot and Accessories

The new Play Ball! Bundle is the perfect way to celebrate spring and enjoy a bit of baseball.


The bundle includes a Blue-Bot, a Baseball Mat—complete with a playing field, bleachers with spectators, an ice cream truck, and a hot dog stand—and a TacTile Code Reader with the Extension Tile Pack.


The TacTile Code Reader controls Blue-Bot remotely via Bluetooth. With the complete set of Extension Tiles, you can enter 45° turns and repeat a set of commands. You'll have everything you need to round the bases when you hit a homer!


The TacTile Code Reader also works with Tuff-Bot, which uses 45° turns, extending its usefulness in your classroom if you have Tuff-Bots.


Don't wait! Batting practice and baseball games start now and go through the fall. This discounted bundle is available through 10/31/25 in honor of the World Series.

Play Ball! Bundle

ISTE's New STEM Guide is Focus of Conference Forum

The upcoming ISTE Conference, June 29–July 2 in San Antonio, will have plenty of discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on engagement with technology designed for Grades PreK–3.


Gail Lovely, founder of Suddenly It Clicks! and strong advocate of Bee-Bots and Blue-Bots, will co-present two sessions that include Blue-Bots.


Little Learners, BIG Ideas: STEM and Early Learning

Sunday, June 29, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. (CDT)

This 3-hour hands-on, minds-on learning experience is designed for educators of students ages 3 to 8. The focus is on practical, meaningful professional learning for the participating educators while also building community between them. Lively discussions and experiences with a focus on STEM will include the robot experience, some AI, and a collaborative project creating a shared book in real time, plus discussions and other smaller explorations. Come see how Blue-Bots are part of the process. This Early Learning Forum is free but requires preregistration.


This Forum is designed around ISTE's new STEM in Early Education guide, co-authored by Gail Lovely.

Click to download it.


Little Learners, BIG Ideas: Come Play in the Early Learning Playground!

Tuesday, July 1, 3:30–5:30 p.m. (CDT)

This Playground is a 2-hour active learning experience with 15–25 educators leading simultaneous discussions, hands-on activities, discussions, and more, all with a focus on ages 3–8. In this free-flowing, "drop-in and explore" experience, attendees can spend as much time as they wish with any activity. 

If you attend either session, you'll have a chance to win a Blue-Bot!

Charging Tips and Essential Accessories for Your Bots

Charging Tips:


Bee-Bots and Blue-Bots need to be recharged periodically, but shouldn't be left on the charger too long. Just as with your phones and other devices, don't overcharge them—the batteries can heat up, which can harm the bots.


Charge your bots when they first arrive. Then, maximize battery life during regular use by charging only when needed. Stop charging when the battery is fully charged and avoid charging overnight, if possible. A constant trickle charge can lead to higher temperatures for your product, which can reduce capacity over time. Heat is not a lithium battery’s friend. Keep your bots cool. Do not store them in direct sunlight or a hot location.


Going for long periods of time without using or charging the bots can also be harmful. When school starts again in the fall, recharge your bots. Charge them every 3–6 months, even if the bots aren't in use.


The color of the bots' eyes can tell you a lot:

  • Solid Red — charging
  • Flashing Red — low battery; needs charging
  • Solid Green — fully charged
  • Blue — Blue-Bot is connected to Bluetooth


Read more information in the Battery FAQs.


Essential Accessories:


Terrapin's Six-Bot USB Charger is a popular choice for charging multiple bots. Each of the six USB ports adapts to optimal charging for the device connected. A built-in circuit breaker prevents damage.


Lost your cable? No problem! We have USB Charging Cables for all our bots.


If your batteries do not hold a charge, you may need to replace the rechargeable battery. We offer Replacement Batteries along with the special screwdriver to open the battery compartment.


You can store your bots in the Docking Station, but unplug it when the bots are charged.


So, do one final charge and then unplug your Bees and Blues before the school year ends so they can enjoy the break as well as you!

6-Port USB Charger

USB Charging Cables

Replacement Batteries

Docking Station

New Customer Story

New Teacher-Created Mats

Share your Mats & Story

"March Badgeness" was the theme of a month-long regional workshop for teachers in central New York. Two key activities used Bee-Bots.

Online emulator mats are not just for your youngest learners! Three new mats focus on fractions, the water cycle, and the three states of matter. Try them out here!

It's easy to submit a mat for the Bee-Bot Teacher Center or a story about your work.

Here's how to submit an Online Mat or a Customer Story.

Quick Links to Resources


Bee-Bot Lessons ~ for Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot! Explore 200 lessons and 600+ online activities for K–2 learners in all curriculum areas.

Preview it!


Problem-Solving with Bees and Blues ~ 150 challenges to try in the classroom or online. Preview it!


Exploring Math with Blue-Bot ~ Coding fun with Blue-Bot while practicing math skills. Preview it!


Kinderlogo ~ Creative math activities for K–3 learners to explore online with the Logo turtle. Preview it! or Get a 30-day Free Trial!


52 Ideas for Kinderlogo ~ Free booklet to get you and your students started with Kinderlogo. Included are activities for each of the five levels.


Lessons Ideas (free) ~ Get teaching tips for all our learning mats and accessories.


Accessories Chart (free) ~ Which accessories and curriculum products work with each robot?


Customer Stories (free) ~ See how others use bots and other technology. Send us your story!

Bee-Bot Online Emulator (free) ~ Explore with Bee-Bot in your web browser using a variety of mats, including Teacher-Created Mats.


Blue-Bot Online Emulator (free) ~ Navigate Blue-Bot using both 45° and 90° angles and repeat loops.


Tuff-Bot Online Emulator (free) ~ Learn to code with this fun robot online. Try the obstacle avoidance feature!


Teacher-Created Mats (free) ~

Try some fun Bee-Bot mats that educators have made for you and your students to use.


Monthly Emulator Mats (free) ~ A new calendar mat to explore every month!


Coding Journeys (free) ~ Compare Bee-Bot, Blue-Bot, and Pro-Bot in 17 sets of free online activities. New Mats!


NEW! Articles (free) with tips & ideas.


Visit our entire Resources Directory!

All our resources are easy to find and just one click away!

We Want to Hear from You!


Here's how to share your Bee-Bot mats or Customer Story with us.

Do you have ideas for new products or features? Fill out our Customer Contribution Form.

Do you have images of students using Bee-Bots or Blue-Bots that you can send us?

We'd love to feature them in a Bee-Bot Buzz or a Customer Story.

Terrapin | 955 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 365 | Cambridge, MA 02139 

800-774-LOGO (5646) | +1-508-487-8181 (international) | Fax 617-302-9778

terrapinlogo.com | facebook.com/BeeBot.us | instagram.com/terrapin.tools.for.thinking


Find our Turtle Tuesdays Logo coding challenges on Facebook and Instagram each week!

Visit the Turtle Tuesdays web page to see all the challenges and solutions.

Some challenges also apply to Kinderlogo, Pro-Bot, and InO-Bot users.

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