Social robots show promise as learning partners for children, yet most child–robot interaction (CRI) systems for education continue to rely on screens as the primary interface, even when an embodied robot is present. This dependency constrains physical movement, limits social engagement, and conflicts with children’s developmental needs for a tangible, embodied experience. We present TEECRI, a Tangible and Embodied Educational Child–Robot Interaction framework, that provides design principles and illustrative scenarios for screen-free CRI, in which interaction is distributed across a social robot and everyday physical objects augmented with embedded sensors such as RFID tags, accelerometers, touch, and pressure sensors. These sensor-enhanced objects communicate their state to the robot in real time, enabling the robot to maintain continuous spatial awareness of objects and children without any visual display. We present the preliminary system design and components, outline three design principles for fully embodied CRI, and illustrate this approach through five design scenarios.

To support engaging sustainability education, this paper introduces the Multi-Realm Robot (MR2) framework, a narrative-driven learning experience where a single robot character, Blossom, spans a 2D game, an augmented reality (AR) environment, and the physical world. The system integrates game-based learning, AR guidance, and a Wizard-of-Oz-operated social robot within a unified narrative. To our knowledge, this is the first work portraying a robot as a continuous character across multiple modalities, fostering children’s sustainable practices. We describe the narrative, system design, and playtest results, showing the framework’s promising impact.

Most mental health conditions emerge during adolescence, making university years pivotal for intervention. Nearly 30% of students worldwide experience mental health difficulties, yet support remains constrained by stigma and limited resources. This work investigates how interactive technologies, integrated with a wearable heart-rate sensor, can enhance psychological and emotional well-being through the ancient yogic breathing practice, Nadi Shuddhi. We developed two autonomous, adaptive systems - one combining a social robot with a tablet, and one tablet-only, both delivering real-time guidance based on heart-rate variability and breath rate. A study involving 42 university students across 200 sessions revealed both systems significantly increased parasympathetic activation, mindfulness, and calmness while reducing short-term stress and depression symptoms. Compared to a tablet-only condition, the robot’s physical presence led to a significant decrease in breath rate, improved mood, higher competence, and more positive user perceptions, while usability remained comparable, highlighting its potential for supporting youth mental health through social robots with biofeedback.

In response to the growing psychological challenges children face, this paper presents "Whispers of Hope", a narrative-centered, webbased game integrated with Augmented Reality (AR), designed to cultivate hope, empathy, and emotional resilience in children aged 7 to 11. Drawing upon Snyder's Hope Theory, the game integrates interactive storytelling, reflective daily affirmations, and curated uplifting news to encourage goal-directed thinking and emotional growth.Through a combination of narrative immersion, socio-emotional learning, and accessible AR technology, the system supports the development of core psychological traits, including self-esteem, optimism, and perspective-taking, that contribute to a hopeful mindset.Preliminary user testing indicates high levels of engagement and perceived emotional relevance, suggesting its promise as a novel, child-centered tool for fostering hope through digital play.

This paper presents a preliminary design and development of a novel wristband connected to a mobile application to enhance social interaction among children aged 7-12 years who struggle with expressing themselves in group settings. Targeting pedagogical environments, the wristband can facilitate structured group discussions by allowing teachers to set parameters such as time limits via the app. Each child involved in the group discussion would wear an individual wristband, receiving notifications according to the set parameters. The system not only aids teachers in managing inclusive classroom discussions but also benefits parents by providing valuable insights into their child’s social development. Moreover, it helps children build communication skills and confidence during group interactions. This innovative technology has the potential to positively impact educational settings by fostering inclusive happiness and a supportive environment for children’s social and cognitive growth.

This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of a novel collaborative educational game titled "Land of Hands", involving children and a customized social robot that we designed (HakshE). Through this gaming platform, we aim to teach proper hand hygiene practises to children and explore the extent of interactions that take place between a pro-social robot and children in such a setting. We blended gamification with Computers as Social Actors (CASA) paradigm to model the robot as a social actor or a fellow player in the game. The game was developed using Godot’s 2D engine and Alice 3. In this study, 32 participants played the game online through a video teleconferencing platform Zoom. To understand the influence a pro-social robot’s nudges has on children’s interactions, we split our study into two conditions: With-Nudges and Without-Nudges. Detailed analysis of rubrics and video analyses of children’s interactions show that our platform helped children learn good hand hygiene practises. We also found that using a pro-social robot creates enjoyable interactions and greater social engagement between the children and the robot although learning itself wasn’t influenced by the pro-sociality of the robot.