Choosing the best educational robotics kit for children can be a complex task, and more so if you are not an expert on the subject. There is a wide variety of robots with different specifications and aimed at different ages.
For this reason, the objective of this article is to help you choose the robotics kit that best suits the needs of your children, whether to use it in the classroom or at home.
To make this decision you must consider the following factors:
Age: the recommended age is one of the most important factors. A kit with activities that are too simple will make them lose interest quickly and one that is too complex will frustrate them because of its difficulty.
Brand: At ROBOTICS we only sell LEGO Education and Make block Education robots. We are convinced that they are currently the two best educational robotics brands due to the possibilities of their robots, the learning curve of their kits, the wide variety of educational activities in Spanish, the durability, and their extensive guarantee.
Educational objectives: In addition to learning to program, each robot allows you to develop different educational skills such as problem-solving, creativity, or teamwork. This can have an important weight on our decision.
Which to choose?
To make your decision easier, we have selected the six best robotics kits for children in 2022 divided by age:
Robotics kits for children (less than 6 years old)
Coding Express
Large train to lay the foundations for programming. Highly configurable and accompanied by sounds to make the experience more realistic.
The tracks are attached without hooking so it is easy to assemble and disassemble.
Each of the colors has a meaning: it stops, backs up, turns on the lights, beeps, stops to fill up on gas…
This robotics kit has many pieces that ensure hours of learning and fun.
Marca: LEGO Education
Content: 234 building bricks, free app, and teaching material with 8 lessons.
Educational Objectives: Learn the logic of early programming. Introduction to concepts of sequences, loops, and conditionals. Express ideas, know the language, develop critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving.
mTiny Discover Kit
The great protagonist of this kit is mTiny, a small robot with which boys and girls will have a great time.
The robot works with the orders that are given to it from a touch pen.
Among its many accessories, the interactive map stands out. A tour of the city where the robot will come across traffic signs and everyday scenes. It offers up to 30 different interactions.
In addition, the robot has “different personalities”. With each one of them, he emits different sounds and moves his eyes to express different emotions.
Characteristics:
Marca: Make block Education
Contents: robot, stylus, interactive map, programming cards, and activity book.
Educational Benefits: Encourage logical thinking by increasing creativity and developing problem-solving skills. Improve interpersonal and social skills.
Robotics kits for primary (from 6 to 12 years old)
Spike Essential
The SPIKE™ Essential Robotics Kit sparks interest for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
This is achieved through educational activities, the familiar stackable LEGO bricks to build endless models, and clever hardware.
Characteristics:
Recommended age: primary (from 6 to 12 years old)
Marca: LEGO Education
Content: four figures, 449 LEGO pieces, and much more (sensors, two small motors…). It also includes a storage box with sorting trays.
Educational benefits: development of computational thinking skills. Learning the operation of sequences and loops through a trial-and-error methodology. Exploration of the technical design process. Promotion of socio-emotional, linguistic, and mathematical skills.
Codey Rocky
Codey Rocky is the ideal robot to start entering the world of programming.
This robot has two pieces. On the one hand, Codey, the programmable brain with a LED screen that incorporates a gyroscopic sensor, a light sensor, a microphone, a speaker, an infrared sensor, and a potentiometer.
Characteristics:
Recommended age: primary (from 6 to 12 years).
Marca: Make block Education
Content: controller (Codey) and base with wheels and motors (Rocky), color cards, adhesive labels, and quick guide.
Educational Benefits: Start in the world of sensor and motor programming by starting to work with variables and data. Promotion of teamwork and problem-solving. Robotics Kits for High School (12+)
Spike Prime
It allows continuing the learning of robotics, programming, and STEAM simply and intuitively using LEGO pieces, sensors, and motors.
Through its APP you can program with the well-known block programming language based on Scratch. It is also possible to make it more complex by programming the robot using the Python language.
It features a variety of fun 45-minute projects and includes instructions for building different construction models.
Characteristics:
- Recommended age: secondary (from 10 years).
- Marca: LEGO Education
- Contents: LEGO bricks, angular motors, distance, color and force sensors, and a storage box.
- Educational Benefits: Learning more advanced programming concepts, STEAM, critical thinking, data analysis, problem-solving, and developing 21st-century skills.
- mBot2
mBot2 is a state-of-the-art educational robot designed for boys and girls to learn programming in a motivating way.
Its characteristics make it the perfect tool to learn how the most modern technologies work, such as robotics, AI (Artificial Intelligence), IoT (Internet of Things), and data science.
Characteristics:
- Recommended age: secondary (from 10 years).
- Marca: Make block Education
- Content: mBot 2 robots, motors, ultrasonic sensor, and light sensor.
Educational benefits: the progressive development of programming skills, discovering how modern technologies work, fostering STEAM skills, and computational thinking