Toy robots for kids come in four kinds, and the right one depends on what the kid wants a robot to do. A three-year-old wants it to answer back. A five-year-old wants it to follow orders. A six-year-old wants a controller in hand. An eight-year-old wants to build it first and then run it. Here's the robot for each of those moments, all from the Mukikim robots collection.
Age 3: a robot that talks back
Say a word, and Odyssey's Robot-Robot talking robot says it straight back, chest lights flashing in time. Tap it on the head and it reacts. That's the whole game, and a three-year-old runs with it: one word, then ten, then a full sentence to see if it keeps up. It's hand-played: the kid drives every reaction with voice and touch.
The body is metal, so it lives on a shelf or a bedside table between sessions. One hour on the charger gives up to ten hours of play. It comes in green, red, or blue, and all three do the same thing.
Age 5: a robot that follows your line
Draw a line on paper with the marker in the box, set Tracerbot, the line-following robot, down at the start, and it follows the line. Every curve, every loop. Optical sensors read the marker and steer the robot along it. A five-year-old starts with an oval and is drawing figure eights and zigzags within the hour, then building obstacle courses around the route to see if the robot still makes it.
The batteries come already fitted, and the box holds the marker, drawing paper, and a test trail, so it runs the moment the paper is on the table. Tracerbot comes in red, blue, and green, and all three colors run on the same courses at the same time.
The Tracerbot Set with two robots and a course playbook doubles it: a red robot and a green one, a dry-erase board, a trail map, and a 21-page playbook of courses that starts with loops and works up to Celtic knots and Möbius strips. Two robots on one course is a race, and the race gets serious fast. There's a bonus poster in the box to mark the secret robot base.
Age 6: a robot you drive
Jabberbot is a remote control robot with a two-way walkie-talkie built in. Drive it into the next room, talk through the controller, and hear what's going on where the robot is. The voice disguiser shifts from normal to high-pitched to a scary low robot tone. The sound effects button covers a whistle, a ghost, and the one every six-year-old presses first.
Kids can also program a sequence of moves and watch it run the route on its own, or press Demo and let it show off. It takes six AAA batteries, sold separately, so have them in the drawer before the box opens.
For two players who want a head-to-head match, SoccerBot two-player robot soccer puts two robots, two remotes, a ball, and two goals on the kitchen floor. Press Kick and the robot backs up, then charges forward and strikes. The robots charge over USB and the remote batteries are in the box.
Age 8: a robot you build first
The Canadarm Robot Arm kit is 108 pieces that become a working hydraulic robot arm with four axes of movement. Syringes push water through the tubes, and that water pressure moves the arm, so the whole thing runs on the builder's own hands. Once it's built, the action levers pick up the included satellite and move the astronaut figure around the desk.
The 40-page booklet explains the engineering behind the real Canadarm, so the kid knows what their build is modeled on. It's an afternoon's build, and it stays on the shelf a long time after.
Which robot for which kid
- Age three, wants a reaction: Robot-Robot. Voice in, voice out.
- Age five, wants to be in charge: Tracerbot, or the Tracerbot Set for two.
- Age six, wants a controller: Jabberbot for missions, SoccerBot for matches.
- Age eight, wants to build it: the Canadarm Robot Arm.
A good rule for gift-buyers: pick the robot that matches what the kid already does all day. The talker gets the talking robot. The kid who draws on everything gets Tracerbot. The one who narrates every game into a pretend radio gets Jabberbot. See every one of them in the robots collection.
Toy robots for kids: quick questions
How does the BOT Tracerbot follow a line?
The BOT Tracerbot reads a black marker line on paper with optical sensors and follows it around every curve and corner. It comes with a marker, drawing paper, and batteries already fitted, and is for ages 5 and up.
What does the Odyssey Robot-Robot do?
The Odyssey Robot-Robot repeats what it hears, flashes its chest lights in time, and reacts to a tap on the head. It has a metal body and a built-in rechargeable battery that gives up to ten hours of play from one hour of charging, and it's for ages 3 and up.
Does BOT Jabberbot work as a walkie-talkie?
Yes. BOT Jabberbot has a two-way walkie-talkie built in, so a kid can drive it into another room, talk through the controller, and hear what's happening near the robot. It also has a voice disguiser, sound effects, and programmable movement, and takes six AAA batteries, sold separately.
How does the NASA Canadarm Robot Arm move?
The NASA Canadarm Robot Arm is hydraulic. Syringes push water through its tubes to drive four axes of movement, controlled with action levers once the 108-piece kit is built, and it's for ages 8 and up.
What is the difference between Robot-Robot and Jabberbot?
The Odyssey Robot-Robot is a hand-played talking robot for ages 3 and up that repeats what it hears. BOT Jabberbot is a remote control robot for ages 6 and up with a walkie-talkie, voice disguiser, and programmable moves.
