Towards the end of last year the kids tested out Colby the coding mouse and both of them LOVED it. Everything about the set was a winner with my two. So when Learning Resources asked if we would like to try out their latest Coding activity set – Botley I immediately said yes.
As soon as the set arrived the kids were eager to open it up. It is very easy to set up – you just need some batteries and a few minutes to read the instruction booklet and you are set.
The set comes with the following
- 1 Botley Robot
- 1 Remote programmer
- Detachable arms
- 40 coding cards (small cards which kids can use to set out the order of steps required)
- 6 double-sided boards (one side white with black lines and one side colourful)
- Objects to use in mazes – 8 sticks, 12 cubes, 2 cones, 2 flags, 2 balls, 1 goal
- And some stickers
You can code Botley to do a wide variety of activities – he can follow a fairly long sequence of steps and you can even loop the sequence so he repeats them over and over.
Botley also comes with an object detection button on his remote. This allows you to code a sequence of events and then tell Botley that if he detects an object he then needs to do a certain action.
The set also include a number of items which you could use to build all kinds of routes/ mazes / challenges for Botley. My son spent ages creating different routes for Botley, and then seeing if he could code the sequence of steps correctly so that Botley could get to the end of the route. (Botley has been great at reinforcing the idea that you will not always get something right the first time but if you keep trying you will eventually get there).
The set comes with 6 double-sided cards (our cards did get slightly buckled and we needed to straighten them under a pile of very heavy books). One side of the card is multi coloured and the other is white with black lines. If you select the Line function on Botley and set him on the black line so that the sensor underneath him can detect the black line he will follow it. He easily follows all the twists and turns very happily. You can even get the kids to draw a route for Botley on some white paper (just make sure you use a thick black pen so he picks up the route, our first attempt at this did not work but once we got a thicker line Botley was off).
Once you flip the cards over onto the coloured section you can start following the coding challenges included in the instruction booklet. The challenges get progressively harder.
And the Detachable arms – what a winner. Create walls or obstacles for Botley and just watch him take them down (my son loves this).
Oh and Botley also says a few words – my kids really loved this feature and his voice is sweet and gentle.
We have been very impressed with this set. Both kids have already used it extensively and there is still more that they can practice/ learn how to do with Botley. I do have 2 kids and we have 1 Botley and honestly it has not been an issue. My kids have taken it in turns and worked together to solve the problems.
Both my kids and I highly recommend the Botley Coding set. (In fact my son says if he was writing the review he would give it 5 stars)
You can buy Botley directly from Learning Resources or from Amazon
Learning Resources Botley the Coding Robot Activity Set
As I mentioned above Learning Resources sent us our Botley set in exchange for us writing a review. All opinions expressed in the post are that of my kids and/or myself.
In case anyone spotted s few red spots on my son – He did play with Botley a lot while he had chickenpox (it was great at distracting him from all the itchy spots). I tend to take natural photos of the kids using the items and don’t pose them so in this case it was hard to find any photos without a few red spots.
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ofamily learning together 
What a cute little robot!
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