Your kid might certainly love a coding robot for their playtime as a STEM toy. The coding robots are highly beneficial in making children learn various basic lessons of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). I recently reviewed Thames & Kosmos junior coding robot (814743018570) that’s created for 8-year-olds and above. Thames & Kosmos is a German toy brand that operates worldwide and specialises in creating science kits, educational toys, and STEM/STEAM learning items. By the way, this “A” in STEAM stands for “arts”. So in today’s blog page, you will learn about the pros and cons of the junior coding robot in detail so that you can decide whether the product is purchasable or not.
(Important Note:
At present, I’m not an Amazon affiliate. But I intend to become an affiliate for the company. After becoming their affiliate, any qualifying purchase resulting from the click on my affiliate link can make me earn some commission without any additional cost for the buyer.)
Review of Thames & Kosmos Junior Coding Robot:
After reviewing Thames & Kosmos junior coding robot, I got the following notable points for you:
Reasonable Height:
The height of this toy is 9 inches that’s reasonable for an eight-year old kid. As kids love tall toys, they can definitely enjoy playing with this tall toy. If you ask me about the height of educational toys or any toys, I’d say that to engage your child at a high level, you should get tall toys for them.
No Need for a Basic Coding Skill:
Your child can learn some basic coding with the toy as a total beginner. Yes, they don’t have to know about coding beforehand to program this toy. Through the block-based or visual coding, they can easily code the robot as per their wish. The robot can perform up to 200 actions based on the commands available in the app.
Two Ways for Playing:
Well, your child can play with this educational toy via two ways. Firstly, they can control the robot’s movements with the screen-free buttons located on the robot. Then, they can program the robot’s speed, lights, movements and sounds with the app that they can download on their Android phone or iOS device.
Development of Some Skills:
With this coding robot, your child can develop the skills of critical thinking, problem-solving, and data-driven decision-making. Yes, for example, when the robot has an issue, your child can solve the issue via coding in their app’s workshop. To change the colour of the robot’s eyes that are made with LED lights, they’ll have to apply a data-driven decision. Then, to program the robot as per their will, they’ll have to apply a certain block-based code that requires their critical thinking ability.
Lightweight Product:
The toy is light for weighing only 2.6 lbs. So your child can easily move the toy around in their room.
High Durability:
The coding robot has some durable plastic components that are strong enough to last for a long time under your child’s regular use.
Part of the Company’s Popular Series:
The junior coding robot is a part of Thames & Cosmos’s famous series, Robotics: Smart Machines series. This series is popular for its high-quality playthings that provide educational content and impressive fun-oriented activities for kids.
Cons of the Coding Robot:
Well, there are 150 pieces of this robot that you have to assemble to operate this robot. These pieces are too many for assembling. Yes, its assembly is difficult. Another con of this junior robot is its hands are not movable. Therefore, this aspect restricts the fun that the children could have experienced if the hands were movable. One last con I observed is that the robot is not rechargeable. Yes, it requires 4 AA batteries (apparently not included) for its operation.
Conclusion:
So that’s all what I have to share with you regarding Thames & Kosmos junior coding robot review. I hope you like my content. If you really like what I shared with you, please share my page with others. In this way, they can also know about the pros and cons of this robot and get one for their children. Plus, do let me know your thoughts about my review via an email, SM text, or WhatsApp message. I read your messages and would love to respond as soon as possible.
FAQs
What’s in the Box?
- Plastic building pieces
- 2 motors
- Speaker
- 2 LEDs
What Is Visual Coding & Block-Based Coding?
Visual coding is any coding that applies visual elements in place of text-based commands (e.g., icons, images, and robot command cards) to create programs (sets of codes). Usually, visual coding is used by beginners to program robots/other items.
On the other hand, block-based coding is a kind of visual coding in which coding blocks are dragged and dropped in a phone or tablet application to create a set of instructions (code). These blocks represent different commands or actions and fit together like some puzzle pieces.
Are the Robot’s Wheels Made of Plastic?
Yes, its wheels are made of durable plastic.
Does It Have an Obstacle Detection Sensor?
Based on its product description, which doesn’t explicitly mention any obstacle detection sensor, it doesn’t seem to have such a sensor.
See Also:
Review of Thames & Kosmos Robotic Pet — Tumbling Hedgehog