Cubetto thumbnail 1
Cubetto thumbnail 2
+6
images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at Young V&A
Design Gallery, Designing for Change section 1, Case 3

This object consists of 25 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Cubetto

Learning Toy
2016 (Designed)
Artist/Maker
Primo Toys (Manufacturer)
Yacob, Filippo (Designer)
Loglio, Matteo (Designer)
Place of origin
London (Designed)
China (manufactured)

The robot is a simple box-jointed plywood box with a blue smiley face decal on one side. On the top are four oversized screws and a plastic base houses four wheels.

The robot is accompanied with a matching control board, a selection of coloured plastic blocks and a play mat.

The board is also made primarily from plywood and has the same four oversized screws that enables the top to be removed. The top has 16 recesses to receive the plastic tokens that determine the robot instructions and movements.

The playmat is a grid decorated with desert, sea and castle scenes.

Object details

Categories
Learning (Development) Toys
Children & Childhood
Digital Play
Object type
Learning toy
Parts
This object consists of 25 parts.

  • Packaging
  • Learning Toy
  • Learning Toy
  • Box
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Tile
  • Bag
  • Mat
  • Leaflet
  • Leaflet
  • Leaflet
TitleCubetto (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Plywood
Electronic Components
Polyester
Brief description
Learning robot, interface board and accessories, 'Cubetto' by Primo Toys, designed 2016, plywood and electronic components
Physical description
The robot is a simple box-jointed plywood box with a blue smiley face decal on one side. On the top are four oversized screws and a plastic base houses four wheels.

The robot is accompanied with a matching control board, a selection of coloured plastic blocks and a play mat.

The board is also made primarily from plywood and has the same four oversized screws that enables the top to be removed. The top has 16 recesses to receive the plastic tokens that determine the robot instructions and movements.

The playmat is a grid decorated with desert, sea and castle scenes.
Production typeMass produced
Gallery label
  • Coding with robots Turtle robots have been used since the 1940s to teach coding. The development of a programming language called LOGO in the late 1960s widened access, as users could now type simple commands to move the turtle and create drawings. Cubetto introduces younger users to coding through a simple wooden robot. Using physical blocks, they can recreate programming concepts like functions and routines.(31/06/2023)
  • Coding with robots Turtle robots have been used since the 1940s to teach coding. The development of a programming language called LOGO in the late 1960s widened access, as users could now type simple commands to move the turtle and create drawings. Cubetto introduces younger users to coding through a simple wooden robot. Using physical blocks, they can recreate programming concepts like functions and routines. 13 LOGO Turtle Designer: Valiant Designs Ltd Date: 1983 Location: England Materials: Plastic, metal, electronics Museum no. B.65-2022 14 Cubetto Playset Designer: Primo Date: 2016 Location: Designed UK, manufactured China Materials: Wood, plastic, electronics Museum no. B.63-2022 [Young V&A, Design gallery, Design helps us to learn, group object label] (01/07/2023)
Collection
Young V&A Collection
Accession number
B.63:1 to 25-2022

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdSeptember 23, 2021
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1663610/cubetto-learning-toy-yacob-filippo/
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest