Is your kid a tinkerer? Do they like to pull things apart to figure out how they work before putting them back together again? If these questions describe your child well, then they have a very technical mind, and it would be a good idea to consider finding them toys that enhance the analytical mind as well as challenge them to get better.
Robot kits teach children how different functions and parts work, as well as teach them how to code through necessary software which can later get enhanced into more complicated coding.
These skills are valuable in a world where technology is dominating every aspect of our daily lives. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the best robot kits for kids and the features that these kits provide.
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Robot kits are pre-manufactured parts and devices that come with the ability to be assembled in a multitude of different ways. These kits are designed to stimulate a child’s developing STEM skills which are necessary for achieving success in school.
Your child will have instructions provided to them on how each mechanical part is supposed to fit together as well as given enough room to express their creativity. Once they are put together, the robot your child made has the ability to be played with or dismantled to create something else.
Most of the time you can purchase robot kits at online retailers such as Amazon.
Each kit is different depending on the skill level and the features your child’s kit comes with. Generally speaking, you should expect to pay between $20.00 to $200.00 for robot kits.
Each product that we go over will be rated by several different factors that qualify them for a place in our list.
Building Capability: Ideally if you can find a kit that presents different building opportunities, it would allow your child to discover a large number of possibilities and expand on their creativity. The more designs and builds you can get out of a kit, the higher we’ll rate them.
Cost: We understand cost is always a concern when it comes to purchasing something for your child, and while we won't choose the lowest price items for the top of our list, we will select the best value for what you're getting.
Age Range: The best kits are designed for children who have started developing their love of model kits and coding and will evolve with your children so they can continue to enjoy them.
While we’ve included some of the more expensive as well as the cheaper robot kits in our line up, it’s important to understand the difference between the two spectrums. Less expensive kits will have the bare essentials or they are rated for children who are younger than six years old. Usually, the parts are bigger or made of wood. They also have beginner instructions with them.
Expensive models will have coding capabilities, apps that help your child learn what certain codes will do for their new robot, or even provide remote control capabilities.
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If you've ever heard of tinkering labs before then, you should know that this company makes some of the most detailed and extensive builds and rebuild robots again. The tinkering labs it's electric motor STEM kit comes with a variety of different Electronics, circuits, and over 50 pieces of functional material that can be used to make a variety of different robots.
This kit is meant to introduce children to electronics by being able to create different builds with pieces that are easy to grasp and utilize. This kit also allows your children to experiment with motors wires and battery packs to figure out how electricity and simple circuitry function together to make something work.
All of the parts for the robotic builds come made out of real wood except for the motor pieces and the battery packs. This robot kit does not feature screen time or programming. However, it does give children a basic idea as to how electronics work as a whole.
Another thing that we love about this STEM kit is the fact that the possibilities are endless as far as what your child can build with the parts provided. There are even cards that come with the package itself that give you or your child some ideas on how to create something that the card is asking.
These cards help provide the stimulation and creativity that your child needs to maximize their potential.
If your child has Legos, you can even add those into the mix to make something even more fantastic than what they've already got. This kit is featured for children ages 8 and up and may require parental supervision at least for those first few times working with it.
The kit itself comes with the following items included:
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The Kids First Robot Engineer kit is a great way to get your child started on their first steps towards learning how to engineer electronics. The company itself is dedicated to improving and informal form of science education by providing science kits for children in all age ranges.
This kit, in particular, contains an interactive storybook that goes over some of the key features of those robot builds while making it fun and entertaining for your children.
The story also goes over different models that you can make with the building pieces providing. There are over ten different variations and total that your child can build and enjoy and they're all made out of large and colorful plastic pieces which makes it perfect for young toddlers or young children to interact.
This kit is STEM-focused which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and it exercises all of the skills in your child by providing a very comprehensive and basic understanding of physics and engineering so that your child gets in a head start in learning essential skills that they'll need to use in school.
Well the building pieces themselves are large and colorful for small hands to grasp and put together, the kit itself is designed to help develop excellent motor skills and visual-spatial skills as well.
The book that comes with it is over 32 pages of beautifully detailed and illustrated instructions that occur in the form of a story so your child can learn and engage with what they have.
The parts have a natural storage system things to the durable storage case that comes with a kit which keeps all of your child's building components within the same area so that they can go back to them at any point in time. This storage system is a handy feature for parents who don't want to find them on the floor and break them when they're stepped on by accident.
The kit itself does not focus on coding. Instead, it focuses on non-motorized models that teach children about moving parts, gears and wheels. These larger parts make it safer for younger children, and there's not as much of a demand for a parent to be involved every time they want to play with it.
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Likely one of the more expensive items in our lineup, the Lego boost creative toolbox is a five-in-one model kit that allows you to create five different robots from one set with each build becoming more challenging than the last.
With this kit they can learn how to build and encode different motorized robots and models that provide technologies that focus around the following:
The Lego creations provide a free tablet app that your child can utilize to code your child's robot properly. The coding program is pretty simple to understand, and it helps children learn how to get a basic grasp of coding in general. The Lego’s app also features step by step instructions that give your child an Interactive learning experience when it comes to their coating technique.
Inside the kit comes with instructions to build Bernie the robot which is a robot capable of moving and talking and even some dancing. It also comes with instructions on how to create the MTR for which is a multi-tool drover that features four different tool attachments including a spring-loaded shooter for your child entertainment.
The Lego Boosters creative toolbox kit also allows your child to create something known as the Guitar 4000 which is a musical instrument that has a pitch bend with other side sound effects. Frankie, the cat, is an interactive cat that your child can build that does things such as expressing its mood, playing, and even purring.
The final model that your child can make with this kit is something known as the auto builder which is an automated production line that builds miniature Lego models.
All of these models can get produced by your child and coded the way that they want them to be. The skits primary purpose is to build and develop their STEM skills and help grow their creativity.
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The Meccano-Erector Mecca-Spider is an excellent, challenging robotics kit that offers 291 total pieces for your child to put together and enjoy building.
This kit comes highly recommended for children that are age ten years old or older that because of how small some of the parts can be. Not to mention the kit is reasonably challenging, so it might be harder for younger audiences to enjoy fully.
There are functional parts that come with this kit such as a brain module which teaches children the fundamentals of engineering and original programming well they learn how to identify the functions of each component to assemble a functional robot.
All of the programming options are customizable which allows your child to learn and experiment with behavior and personality.
You can download the free Meccano app on any Android or iOS device. The app itself is more to give your new robot orders, while its personality typically comes out from its build. Once you have the app set up on your device, kids can take manual control over their robot and have it emit sound effects and spray water.
It even features an integrated button panel that allows your children to have hands-on control whenever they want.
The Mecca-Spider comes equipped with an infrared sensor that allows it to navigate its environment and encourage it to wander and explore the house. If you set your spider to attack mode, the spider goes out onto a hunt and tracks moving objects to spray water. You can even fix it to actively patrol an area in a guard mode setting which keeps out unwanted guests.
There's a panel on the robots rear plate that allows you to determine what mode the spiders in and that's where you can also set it's current mode whenever you wish.
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If your little ones a big “Star Wars” fan, then this Droid inventor kit would be perfect for them. The littleBits Star Wars droid inventor kit allows your child to create a Droid that looks just like R2-D2 from the movies.
This kit comes recommended for children at least ten years old and older just because many small parts can become a choking hazard for small children.
Thanks to a block-based coding program which you do use to teach simple and basic coding procedure, your child can go through six different missions to allow their Droid to perform activities such as changing their droids personality or escaping a rebel base.
You can customize and personalize your Droid anyway that you need or want, as it comes with a bunch of stickers and ideas for household items that allow the Droid to take its shape.
Thanks to the little bits, your children can get as creative as they want and have the ability to engineer new droids to keep their skills up to practice. They’ll be able to reconfigure their Droid in the way that provides additional abilities or tasks thanks to the in-app controls and coding techniques that they learn.
With a little bit Star Wars droid inventor kit, once your Droid gets built up, there are hours of educational activities that your child can take advantage of such as:
Force Mode: This mode will make you think that your child has the power of the force, with just a wave of their hand they'll send away or guide their Droid like they are using the force.
Drive Mode: The in-app controllers that come with your app on your device allow you to drive your Droid anywhere that you want. It includes a joystick, a tilt mode, and some sliders to enhance and customize your experience.
Self Navigation: When you're not driving the Droid on with the app, the Droid will move on its own, and it can detect obstacles and change its direction as needed to avoid such obstacles.
Along with the six extra missions that you get with your coding kit, you get twenty-two different missions and challenges included automatically and there's more coming out every update. All of these missions allow your child to become creative with their coating technique as possible, and it helps your children learn how to teach their Droid new skills.
To operate a lot of the features on this Droid, you do have to have a smart device, whether it's a smartphone or a tablet, which will unlock all of the features that come provided.
This kit includes all the electronic blocks needed to code the Droid, all of the Droid Parts, a 9-volt battery, and the free apps that come provided with the kit. As these parts are all easy to assemble with the instructions provided, parents are not necessary for overseeing its build, but it does allow for a great bonding time if you both share the passion.
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You're looking for something more comfortable to work with for your child to build, and the Kamigami is a perfect choice in a robot kit that requires no tools and is made all out of foldable plastic material. The recommended age for this robot kit is between the ages of 8 to 12 years old.
With this kit, your child can get a comprehensive understanding of STEM and basic programming and coding knowledge. Additionally, it's also perfect for children who have never taken on a robotic building kit on their own, and they're looking for something more accessible and better suited for beginners.
As mentioned before, all of the parts are easy to fold food snap into place thanks to the flat sheets of durable plastic that get provided with your kit. Your kit also comes with step by step instructions within the free, gummy controller app that comes with your purchase that your children can easily follow.
Even the programming is easy for children who've never tried to do so before to pick up and learn successfully. The interface makes it easy to use the programming features which enable your robot to learn different moves and techniques based off of what you program it.
Depending on how you process your robot also changes how it behaves to others as well as how it behaves with you.
If you need to use the app to make your, Kamigami robot dance, drive, or even race with other, gummy robots, there's also a battle simulation wear your tummy gummy robot will be able to play Sumo or freeze tag with other robots nearby. If your child gets good enough at programming, then they could even teach their dance moves to their robot.
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With the Circuit Cubes Whacky Wheels kit, your child will be able to create and make a variety of different robots with many various functions. What we like a lot about this kit is that if your child has Legos at home, they can utilize those and other building brick toys to create exceptionally unique robots that they can play with as they please.
The robot itself at functions off of a modular battery, LED cubes, and a motor to energize their creations. Not only do these simple factors make it easy for children to play with their kits and put them together, but it also allows a lot of room for creativity.
When your child gets a hold of this kit and starts putting things together, it helps their STEM skills thanks to this kits desire to promote hands-on exploration where they encounter areas related to Technology, Science, Arts, Math, and Engineering every time that they touch their kit.
Thanks for the semi-transparent design children will also get an idea of how circuitry works and enable them to have a basic comprehension of how technology has a whole work together. The battery cube itself is rechargeable thanks to a MicroSD slot in its side, and it lasts about an hour and active play and three days in standby phase.
The motor cube has a turning rate at a thousand RPMs and a generating gear that speeds at about a hundred RPM. Even though this motor cube is fast, you can't slow it down by changing the gear ratio similar to the way that you would on a bicycle.
The final cube that comes with the Circuit Cubes Wheels kit is the LED cube which provides and ultra-bright oversized LED that you can snap into your creations to use as needed.
With the kit, you also get wheels, gears, and wires as well as a charging cable. There are even paper cutouts that help bring out more creativity and fun and allows your children to invent new toys every time that they play.
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We really enjoyed the Tinkering Labs Electric Motors because it helps children get creative with their creations and allow their skill sets to grow while they’re having fun. While there isn’t coding available, there are still many opportunities available to them to have fun with them.
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