Back in October we visited the Bournemouth BFX Festival which is a week-long event designed to celebrate visual effects, animation and games to inspire the next generation of talent and share the latest knowledge.
As part of the festival, they held a family weekend event, which had things for all ages to enjoy, including talks and presentations, animation and coding workshops, the chance to try out the latest technology and even act against a green screen.
Being a bit older, Isaac and Eliza really enjoyed the coding workshops, but Sebby could try his hand at coding too, with Botley – The Coding Robot from Learning Resources.
I have seen a big push in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) toys in recent years and learning to code is a way of life for our primary school age children these days.
The problem with some coding toys is that they require screentime, which is something that we actively try and discourage, but Botley is 100% screen-free and the ideal introduction to coding.
This comprehensive kit provides you with countless ways to program and use this coding robot; no smartphone or tablets required!
Botley the Coding Robot set includes:
- Easy-to-use Remote
- Detachable robot arms
- 40 coding cards
- 6 boards
- a sheet of stickers for customisation
- a variety of accessories to create obstacles and activities – 8 sticks, 12 cubes, two cones, two flags, two balls and a goal.
You will need:
5 x AAA Batteries (2 for the remote and 3 for Botley)
What does Botley do?
Does your child like telling you what to do?
Well, Botley is designed to do as he is told, using basic coding tools, which helps build and develop your children’s critical thinking, spacial awareness and problem solving skills.
Tell Botley to move forward, turn left or right, reverse, detect and avoid objects, make a sound and loop (to repeat a sequence or step). In fact, Botley can handle up to an incredible 80 commands/steps per sequence.
Eliza happily got to work, decorating the set with the stickers, before trying out some simple coding, to get Botley to work its way around the jigsaw. It was trial and error at first, but the delight on her face when she managed to program the robot to get to its final destination was a picture.
You can use the jigsaw to help learn the basics, flip it over to make Botley follow the lines and extend the route by drawing your own map or just program Botley to run on the floor, using the accessories as obstacles, or goals.
Botley can even do his very own tricks too!!
Botley the Robot is available direct from Learning Resources and from all good toyshops with an RRP of £79.00
This is absolutely impressive, I do love that there is no screen time involved in this coding toy. Very impressive indeed
Really like the fact this toy doesn’t look coloured or packaged for either gender. It’s a v cool wee thing!
This is so cute 🙂 I love the look of this seems very clever now seen this one before .
Oh my girls would love this. My husband is a programmer and we both try to encourage more STEM toys with our children.
this looks like a lot of fun! i love all these coding toys that have been comng out, theres so many!
I love the look of this, would be great for in schools too as my son is learning coding 🙂
I have never seen this toy! My son would love it, and it would keep him engaged and off of the video games!
What a great idea for a youngster learning stepping into technology! My kids would love this!
Coding is such an important skill for children to develop in this digital world so this looks like a great introduction that my kids would love
This looks brilliant. My daughter has just started doing a coding club at school so this would be right up her street. So good there’s no screen time needed too as we have gone screen free through the week.
Hey, I like that. I guess even my teenagers would love to have one like that. That is a nice way to teach kids about visual arts, animation and games.
That looks like a fun robot to play with! I bet my kids would have a blast with it!
What a great idea, Botley is very cute too! I love that its still teaching tech but without being in front of a screen and I definitely think this is something my son would love!
Wow this looks like fun! So entertaining but educational too!
What a fab idea! You can’t beat educational toys!
oh my Goodness that robot is so cool , i love how the toys evolved since i was little
I have never seen anything like this before, I am sure lots of children will have fun with this x
This looks like a fun yet also educational toy for kids. A great Xmas gift!
Oh I’ve seen this little fella all over social media at the minute . Going to get him for Alessia as she would LOVE him! 🙂
this sounds so cool, my son would love this
I have never seen this before but i have a nephew who would love this for xmas
I have come across tones of coding robots, but none of them were operatable without the use of a smartphone or a tablet. This one is a breath of fresh here. And, as was in your case, many parents, in today’s day and age are trying to get their kids away from screens as much as they can. And, such toys, though educational, tend to work against that goal. I am glad that someone understood this dilemma and came up with this cute robot. Thanks for sharing!