I am trying to find a challenging gift for my son, 7.
He is a great reader, and loves to build. He especially loves robots.
I see plenty of kids' robots on amazon, but most are pre-made (and many have horrible reviews).
Where can I find a quality (not all plastic) kit that involves more than just snapping pieces together?
I looked into the LEGO groups, but there seem to be none locally for a 1st grader, just 4th and up.
Thanks for any thoughts.
S.
My boys loved K'nex. Better than Legos.
http://www.amazon.com/KNex-Cyber-Ultra-2-0-Robot/dp/B0000...
:)
Forget the kit. Sign him up with your local 4H Robotics chapter. http://www.4-h.org/youth-development-programs/4-h-science...
ETA: Oh, and our Kiddo's teacher recommended this for him-- zometools. They are omni-directional and quite amazing-- we are getting these for him for Christmas:
http://www.zometool.com/
S., try Saturday Academy's WeDo Lego Robotics class. There's one available for kiddos his age, starting in April.
http://saturdayacademy.org/Classes/AllClasses/ByGrade/tab...
My son's school has some afterschool ed options and he's enjoying this immensely.
Here's another link to a page which offers a variety of kits:
http://www.scientificsonline.com/shop/robotics/beginner-r...
You might try Finnegan's toys (downtown, good variety of science sets) or call Thinker Toys in Multnomah Village and see if they have anything to offer.
I'm going to second the snap circuits kit.
Salt water robot kit:
http://tinyurl.com/qdjnrnn
Snap circuits kit (great introduction to EE):
http://www.snapcircuits.net/
And check out Make magazine, which has a ton of robot 'homebrew' ideas:
http://makezine.com/category/electronics/robotics/
HTH!
Scientificsonline.com
Lego Mindstorm is fantastic. But it is definitely an investment toy. We borrowed a set from a teacher friend for my eight year old. It was not something he could do on his own. IT required A LOT Of involvement from his dad.
Snap circuits have been great as a beginner toy to learn about circuits and electronics. And after an initial lessons he could do it solo.
My son LOVED building this robotic arm. It's reasonably priced and did not require sodering. http://www.amazon.com/OWI-OWI-535-Robotic-Arm-Edge/dp/B00... This things has lasted a while. And my son loves to tell his friends that he built it.
We were underwhelmed with these toys. They were small. And he did get to build the toys from scratch. They also worked as advertised. But the instructions were not very complete and although they worked, they did not last any amount of time.http://www.amazon.com/Educational-Solar-Science-Manufactu...
You may also consider Hex bug toys. Nothing to build, but fun little robots.
Legos are plastic but there's so much that can be built with them now.
Erector sets are still popular.
One place that has some nice things is:
http://www.scientificsonline.com
Check out their robotics section - they have a range of various kits from beginner through advanced.
Additional:
I think it's perfectly fine to have some things that he and you work on together.
When our son was 4 we'd work on Legos together - following instructions and finding parts.
It wasn't long before I was HIS assistant - and he soon left me behind - and was building things rated way above his age level.
He's 16 now, a straight A STEM student (in 10th grade and he's 23 out of a class of 514) and just got accepted into the Virginia Space Coast Scholars program.
Thanks Theresa for reminding me, K'nex are the best!! My younger son is 15 and all I have to do is pull out a box and he will start building again. My favorite is the roller coaster! Um, yeah, I still play with them.
Try a hobby store. Not a craft store like Hobby Lobby or Micheal's, but a real hobby store that sells model cars and train sets and the like.
Check out the Zoob bot make a robot set.
Here's the link on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003IKN4OS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?q...
T. Y
Why not buy lego mindstorm.
