A Day in London with Microsoft Surface

We were recently invited to London for the launch of the new Microsoft Surface, a piece of technology neither my son or I had tried out before and didn't really know what to expect but we always enjoy a good adventure to the big smoke and trying out something new so were really excited to find out more about what makes the new Microsoft Surface Go so special. 

I'm always really grateful that Cardiff has a high speed service direct to London meaning we can go from the Capital of Wales to the Capital of England in 2hrs! As we arrived a little early we headed to Westminster to spot the houses of Parliament and the rather covered up Big Ben as well as stand in awe of the London Eye. We always like to soak up as much of the vibrant atmosphere London has to offer even if we are only there for a few hours.

The event was held at The White Space near Covent Garden and offered creative and interactive sessions for both adults and children. While the adults listened to an inspiring panel discussion from industry leaders as well as recently summited Everest climber and TV presenter Ben Fogle who shared his thoughts on how technology can actually encourage children to get outdoors, get creative and how to use it as a tool in a modern world. I have to say we pretty strict when it comes to screens in our household and it's not something that is a a daily occurrence for my kids but after this talk I do feel a little better about incorporating apps into our outdoor learning and creative projects in the home. 

During the panel the kids were next door taking part in a creative project to create a digital coin and penguin using the Microsoft Surface Go. I sat in with my son for a while and I was really impressed by how intuitive and easy the Surface is to use and how children as young as 6 & 7 can make 3-D objects and animations with ease. The Surface certainly takes drawing to a new level with the easy to use pen and you can even project your images into real life and with the use of the inbuilt camera you can interact with your creations (on the screen of course).

After the first workshop there was a little break to catch up, network and have a bite to eat. It also gave everyone the chance to meet Ben Fogle, we are huge fans of his New Lives in the Wild show where people sell up everything and move to isolated parts of the world (my dream although can it come with wifi?). We then sat down for a another mini workshop where the kids learnt how to collage together images to make a magical animal, it was a lot of fun with plenty of original creations being made.

I think what impressed me the most was how easy the Surface is to use, I love that you can connect and disconnect the keyboard instantly turning it from a tablet to a laptop and back again. It also fits into the family dynamic really well being so intuitive for kids but also a high spec piece of kit for adults especially those that work in the creative field or content creators and freelancers. We had such a blast and really enjoyed learning more about the Surface in such a fun way.

I was invited to attend the event and was compensated for our time.