DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM

Texas Instruments My Little Computer

Date of introduction:	1989	Display technology:	LED
New price:	$25.46 (1992) Activity Packs: $9.95	Display size:	16 single LED
Size:	10.2" x 8.0" x 5.0"
Weight:	21 ounces	Serial No:
Batteries:	2*AA	Date of manufacture:	year 1992
AC-Adapter:		Origin of manufacture:	USA
Precision:		Integrated circuits:	COP444
Memories:
Program steps:		Courtesy of:	Joerg Woerner
		Download manuals:	(US: 3.2M Bytes) (US: 1.5M Bytes)

This educational toy for toddlers trains combination skills. You can insert one of the twelve different picture cards and start the game or play one of the four Children's songs. One out of the 4 LED spots on the leftmost column will glow and the child must point with the arrow keys to the corresponding answer.

The technical part of this product is straight forward. A small microcomputer from National Semiconductors, often found in cheap toys like the Quiz-Kid or the wonderful Monkey See, controls both the LED's and the keyboard. A similar microcontroller was used in the later Magic Sorter.

The four songs stored in the My Little Computer are accessed with the four arrow keys:

• [UP] Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
• [DOWN] Frère Jacques
• [LEFT] Oh, My Darling Clementine
• [RIGHT] Für Elise

Each activity was designed with a specific early learning skill in mind. The activities span a range for children ages 2 to 6. The activities are listed below in order of increasing challenge:

Number	Title	Activity	Early Learning Skill
1	Follow Me	Repeat the pattern My Little Computer gives you	Sequencing and memory
2	Follow Me	Repeat the pattern My Little Computer gives you	Sequencing and memory
3	Dinosaur Twins	Match identical dinosaurs	Visual discrimination
4	Shapes & Colors	Match colors and shapes	Color and shape recognition
5	Shoe pairs	Match similar pairs of shoes	Visual discrimination
6	Animal Faces & Tails	Match animal fronts and backs	Advanced visual discrimination
7	Shape Count	Match identical quantities of objects	Counting and visual discrimination
8	Color Hunt	Match colors	Color recognition
9	People & Their Tools	Associate people's occupations with their tools	Socialization skills
10	Dress-Up Maze	Matching clothing and objects with body parts	Socialization skills
11	Toy Triplets	Match similar types of toys	Categorization
12	Start-to-Finish	Sequence events in order of occurrence	Sequencing
13	Make-an-Animal	Match animals heads, middles, and tails	Advanced visual discrimination
14	What Comes next?	Sequence activities in order of occurrence	Sequencing
15	Number Match	Match a number with a group of objects	Number recognition and counting
16	First Letter Match	Match beginning letter sounds	Letter recognition
17	Animal Hide & Seek	Match parts of animals	Advanced visual discrimination
18	First Letter Choice	Identify beginning letter sounds	Letter recognition
19	People & Their Hats	Associate attire with occupation	Socialization skills
20	Number Hunt	Match a number with a group of objects	Number recognition and counting
21	First Letter Maze	Identify beginning letter sounds	Letter recognition
22	Telling Time	Tell and match time in both digital and analog representation	Telling time
23	First...Second...Third	Sequence pictures in time order	Sequencing
24	Spell-a-Word	Spell three-letter words	Spelling

Texas Instruments offered two additional activity packs "Activity Pack 1" and "Activity Pack 2". Each activity pack contains 12 colorful activity cards with 24 varied and exciting activities. The cards are designed with increasing levels of difficulty so that the challenge grows along with the child.

Activity Pack 1:

Number	Title	Activity	Early Learning Skill
1	Outer Space Match
2	Color Match
3	Bunnies, Bears, Bees & Bats
4	Toys & Shadows
5	Animal Go-Togethers
6	Animal Mothers & Babies
7	Up in the Clouds with Color
8	Things That Work Alike
9	People & Their Tools 2
10	Animals & Their Homes
11	Fish in a Bowl
12	People & Their Vehicles
13	Make-an-Animal 2
14	First...Second...Third
15	Three of a Kind
16	What Comes Next?
17	Creatures & Patterns in Space
18	First Letter Choice
19	First Letter Zoo
20	Number Choice
21	Hidden Traffic
22	Dollars & Cents
23	Start-to-Finish
24	Spell-a-Word

Activity Pack 2:

Number	Title	Activity	Early Learning Skill
1	Monster Match
2	Crayons & Colors
3	Fruit Salad Match
4	Changing Weather
5	Shapes & Things
6	Things in the Garden
7	Let's Make Music Together
8	Boats & Banners
9	Start-to-Finish
10	What Comes Next?
11	Things That Go Together
12	What Do Animals Eat?
13	Big Number Match
14	More Big Number Match
15	Hiding in the Grass
16	How Much Is It?
17	What Do Animals Make?
18	First Letter Hunt
19	First Letter Choice
20	Time & Event
21	Things That Are Alike
22	Spall-a-Word
23	Fix-it-Shop
24	Word Spell

In Germany an identical toy was sold as Little Computer.

The My Little Computer is featured in the Texas Instruments Incorporated leaflet Follow the Learning Path™ dated 1991.

If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.