Top 5 Robotics Toys That Rock & Roll!
Robotics toys are great for sparking an interest in STEAM. They expose kids to combined physical and digital experiences, coding opportunities, and experiments that produce immediate results. Robotics toys are all around us, from characters from the fantasy worlds we love like R2D2, WALL-E, EVE, and BB-8 to highly visible robots in real life like the NASA Mars Rovers.
The sky’s the limit for learning from robotics toys. These are five models that rock and roll and allow for numerous designs, concepts, and configurations to interact with.
Sphero SPRK+
Inspire creators of tomorrow with Sphero robots that can roll into your home. This programmable robot ball inspires curiosity through coding and play. Sphero makes it easy to learn programming, complete hands-on activities, and attempt self-directed challenges. Their website is filled with educational tools and inspirational ideas that kids and families can continue to come back to. Many of the commands that you create can be highly personalized – ours rolls around our home singing songs from High School Musical and Hamilton while lighting up like it’s in its own dance party for one.
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Check out the Sphero community activities for ideas and inspiration on activities to create.
Lego Boost Creative Toolbox
Ages: 7+
Customize Vernie the robot in one of five different ways including our favorites: a robot and a guitar. Use encoded monitors and tilt sensors to make him do special tricks — perfect for learning robotics and coding. Kids use the free LEGO Boost app to code Vernie. They can also combine to supercharge favorite Lego sets to bring them to life.
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If your kids love building with legos, create a special Lego course, task, or creative challenge with LEGO Boost involving your other lego creations. If your kids need inspiration on Lego, check out our blog post: 5 STEAM Perks From LEGO Play at Any Age.
Dot & Dash from WONDER WORKSHOP
Dot and Dash are approachable robots with distinct “personalities” that encourage creativity as they teach coding. These CleverBots come with a suite of attachments that encourage thoughtful and experiential interaction. Many more can be bought separately (including a xylophone), so you can customize your Bot and make sweet music while it rolls through your home. They can also be programmed to share personalized phrases and songs while they are on a roll.
Additionally, you can build your coding literacy while creating, exploring, and playing in a new free program called Dash’s Neighborhood. Dash’s Neighborhood uses the same drag-and-drop programming language and is an accessible way for all to learn to code and play with a 3D version of Dash as you create and explore in Dash’s virtual neighborhood.
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While we love making music and programming Dot and Dash to tell jokes and share favorite movie quotes, we also loved being able to take the 3D Dash for a spin in Dash’s Neighborhood.
Little Bits Droid Inventor Kit
Little Bits R2D2 Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit
Ages 8+
R2D2 has come to life in our home in many ways. Our kids have enjoyed tinkering, building, and driving with the Little Bits Droid Inventor Kit. The Little Bits electronic blocks and the special 9V battery bring it to life. Young inventors will learn all about circuits as they construct this toy, and they can even add or remove parts to form their own creation, practicing creativity and engineering. Over 20 missions & challenges are also available in the app, so kids can teach their Droid new skills to delight and surprise friends and family.
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Don’t stop after you assemble your first Droid. Watch it roll through your home and deliver secret messages, then embrace the idea of building a new Droid by coming up with a new alter ego, secret mission, and task to conquer.
Botley The Coding Robot 2.0
Ages: Kids 5+
Botley is screen free – no phone or tablet required. Practice coding with this starter robot. This coding robot has tested well with kids who took to learning coding logic and approached it like a puzzle game. Because it is approachable for young audiences and filled with a wide range of challenges for kids, they will enjoy programming with Botley and creating a sequence of up to 150 steps to complete coding challenges.
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You can make your own activity challenges for Botley to take on with other toys in your home, like dominos, blocks, and LEGOs.
Summary
We have found that our local library, schools, electronics stores like Apple, and science museums are great places to check out robotics toys and to give them a test run before you make a full investment. Robotics toys pair well with coding skills and make technology more approachable. With technology moving fast, robotics toys bridge the creative stories we love to watch and read with real life solutions and out of this world dreams we like to reach for. Check out our STEAM Team as they code the Droids from Star Wars.
We can’t wait to learn about the robots, droids drones, androids, cyborgs, and bots that rock & roll for you. Share with us any tips on Robotics Toys that have been able to spark STEAM interest with the kids, tweens, and teens in your world.
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