Looking to get your kids into simple and achievable coding? Botley the Coding Robot is sure to tick those boxes.
We were kindly gifted a Botley the Coding Robot Activity Set by Learning Resources for purpose of review. All opinions and images are our own and completely genuine. This post contains affiliate links.
Coding robots seem like a popular toy these days for kids, and with their strong support of STEM learning it's no surprise why. I had always been a little hesitant to purchase a coding robot as I feared it might be too complex for my 5 year old. I wondered if he might just get frustrated with not being able to understand the technology fully. I'd been hearing some stellar reviews of Learning Resource's Botley the Coding Robot so was pretty pleased to be given the opportunity to review one.
It was so close to Christmas that we ended up giving Botley to my son for Christmas. As soon as he unwrapped it he was in awe of the little guy.
He excitedly unboxed all of the activity accessories and we looked over the instruction manual together. I was so impressed with how easy Botley was to get going. Once the batteries were in, it was simply a case of turning him to CODE mode and experimenting.
The controls are very kid-friendly. Once my son had gone through the sequence of how to code Botley to do a series of movements a few times, he totally had it all figured out! I love that this STEM toy is screen-free. I feel that sometimes STEM toys which are screen based end up with the screen factor being a distraction from the potential learning.
The simple and robust remote is intuitive and clearly labelled. My son loved setting out obstacles for Botley to try and maneuver around. He even set up a little soccer pitch with a ball and goal. He patiently used trial and error to figure out how he could code Botley to score a goal with his ball.
In the box you also get six coding tiles which are double-sided. These were great for helping my son get used to the coding controls. For example, to start off with he experimented with how to code Botley to move across the three different colored tiles. Then he added turns to the other colors. This made the tasks simple and achievable for my son which really engaged him and boosted his confidence.
On the other side of the coding tiles there are black lines. Botley is able to follow the black lines when switched to LINE mode. An even cooler extra is that you can draw your own thick black lines for Botley to follow!
This toy really captivated my son's imagination and engineering skills. I think it is pitched perfectly for younger kids. There is an element of challenge to learn how to code Botley, but once you understand the process it is simple to repeat it. I like that there are so many fun accessories as this adds many new elements to coding play. We haven't yet explored it, but there are also additional challenges which can be unlocked to help Botley grow with your child. Such a fun and engaging way to get kids hands on with coding in a screen-free way!
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