Our kids were super excited to get Botley the Coding Robot. We have a 3-year old, a 5-year old, and an 8-year old. They could hardly wait to get Botley out of his box.
Set up was fairly easy, and required 5 AA batteries (2 for the remote, 3 for the robot). Our 5-year old enjoyed putting the stickers on some of the activity set pieces while the 8-year old read some of the instruction booklet (he was excited to code).
We started Botley on the "Line" feature where he can follow a thick black line on the included cardboard play space (like a 2-sided puzzle that can be assembled many different ways). It was pretty fun and the younger kids thought it was great. You can draw your own thick black line on white paper and Botley will supposedly follow it, but we haven't tried this yet.
The 8-year old was itching to code so we flipped the board over and tried to follow the coding challenges from the booklet. He jumped right to Challenge 6 and it took him a few minutes to get the hang of it, but once he got started he really enjoyed it. He spent 45 minutes working coding and playing with Botley, trying to get him to do different things.
The 5-year old wanted a turn to code next and was very excited. She is a "do it myself" girl so once I explained the steps she really got into it. We used the deck of cards to keep track of the moves she wanted Botley to make, then coding them into the remote. She was so pleased with herself when Botley did the things she "told" him to do! She seemed really satisfied with it. She played with Botley for about an hour the first day, though with adult assistance.
The 3-year old was obviously too young for the "ages 5+" recommendation, and with good reason. He liked rolling the balls, LOVED pushing the buttons on the remote, and trying to steal Botley and/or the remote from his siblings the entire day.
PROS:
- Easy to set up.
- Adorable, endearing beeps and noises (uh-oh!, oooooh!).
- Remote beeps and lights up to indicate that the button was pushed (when coding), which is very helpful.
- Comes with a set of cards so kids can put the "moves" in order to help with the coding.
- Booklet has 10 coding activities (in increasing difficulty) to get kids started on coding.
CON:
- Hard to share, not a great toy for multiple children to play at once
I highly recommend a Botley for the 5-9 year old in your life, but if you have more than one child, I recommend you buy two!
The set also includes 2 cones, 2 balls, 2 flags, and a large orange circle that is supposed to be used as Botley's goal to reach. The cones, balls, and flags are nice to use as obstacles which Botley is suppose to overcome. One of the options on the remote is labeled, "Object Detection" and this indicates to Botley that when he runs into one of the obstacles, he is suppose to figure out how to maneuver around it....he has not been successful so far at doing this though and still completing the rest of his course....but this might be user error.
The robot also includes 6 double-sided cardboard cards. They measure roughly 6 x 6" each. One side is black and white and the other is multi-colored. When Botley's settings are switched to "line" mode, he runs along the black line outlined on the black and white side of the cards. This feature also seems a little finicky. Sometimes he just spins in a circle because he cannot find the black line so it is important to line him up precisely. Also, the cards really cannot be used easily on a carpeted surface because sometimes the robot's wheels get caught on the carpeting and this pushes him off the black line and he gets stuck. Of all his features this is the one we have struggled with the most. I also wish that they had included about 10x the number of these cards. The path it makes is tiny and short and is really a waste of time to set up. He cannot transition from the cube & rod maze to the black & white maze on his own so they cannot be combined, unfortunately. I wish they had developed a ramp feature so that this was possible because, it would have greatly increased the mobility of Botley and the number of different possible builds for the maze. As it stands both maze options are very small and thus limited.
The other side of the cards are brightly colored and designed to practice some more advanced/independent coding opportunities. My son is just starting out and is only 5 years old and so we have only used this option once. But, it does seem to have great possibilities and I'm looking forward to him being able to use this option more in the future.
I love that the sound can be turned off (for when the parent gets tired of hearing it or when there is a sleeping sibling in the house). I also think it was such a cute idea to include a list of "secret coding commands" in the instruction booklet. These allow him to preform cute tricks in which he says, "Hi" and spins etc.
I don't love that we have gone through about 20 AAA batteries since purchasing it less then 1 month ago. It does have an off switch and this has not been used as effectively as it should have been and yet, I do think that simply using one D-cell battery in both the robot and the remote would have been a much better approach.
Overall, we love him and recommend him as a great beginning coding toy.
#learningresources #botley
As a mom who likes to limit screen time, I'm ALWAYS looking for an educational but FUN toy to keep the kids busy. When I heard about Botley, with a completely screen-free code programming transmitter, I was intrigued. At the moment, I can't think of another product out there that will help teach my kids about coding without being attached to a screen of some sort.
Botley was an answered prayer just when we really started cracking down on tablet usage. My daughter is learning the basics of coding with an adorable little robot and a kid-sized remote. The instructions made it really easy to work on the basics, gradually working up to more challenging codes.
My daughter loved the fact that Botley can sense and follow lines, so she's begging me to use a ton of paper to make him a large path.
He makes cute little noises and says hi, which really seems to entertain my 6 year old. Her attention is held and I seriously can't wait to get to the more challenging tasks to keep her busy even longer. And, though she's learning a lot, she's mainly having fun, so she'll continue to play with this more than most of her robotic toys that do very little to engage her growing brain!
There are also 22 stickers that need applied to the accessories.
That being said, my five year old has been having a great time with Botley. We started out using the black line follow feature (while mom read the instructions) and then we began having Botley maneuver obstacles using code. It took some trial and error each time for my son to figure out the best way to program Botley to get through the course we set up. When he got it right he was very excited and proud of himself.
Botley is a great way to help learn beginning coding, problem solving, and foster creativity.
As a homeschool mom I am very excited to have Botley as a part of our STEM curriculum.
Botley arrived at our house a few hours ago and my kids (6 and 10 yrs) have been playing with it since I popped the batteries in.
It says "Ready to go, right out of the box!", BUT you need 5 AAA batteries and a Phillips screwdriver. Oh, and there are some stickers to stick to some of the pieces too. There is also no sticker guide in the instructions but looking at the box it was easy to tell where the stickers were supposed to be placed. My 6 year old put the eyes on the blocks while I put the other stickers on.
At thus point my kids were more than eager to get their hands on Botley, and I handed it over to them with a quick glance at the small "getting started" section of the instructions. So far they've figured out how to make it crash into multiple block towers, chase our dog, follow a line, and talk. All without looking at the instructions. It is super user friendly. I love it. I didn't realize how engaging this toy would be. My kids are cooperating, learning how to code while they play, and staying engaged. Kids need to play with more toys like this!
Feature Product
- Early STEM skills: botley helps your child learn early STEM skills while playing and having fun. He teaches kids to code with active, screen-free play that's perfect for promoting critical thinking and problem solving skills
- Ready right out of the box: botley is ready to code right out of the box! Have 5 AAA batteries and a Phillips screwdriver nearby and this coding robot will have your kid coding in minutes with code games, creativity and fun (3 AAA batteries for botley and 2 AAA for the remote programmer)
- Screen-free: botley features completely screen-free coding: no phone or tablet required botley's easy-to-use remote programmer transmits your commands and sends him rolling
- Smart logic: now Smart logic gives botley the ability to detect objects in front of him and avoid them. He can also follow looping commands, take on obstacle courses, and follow black-line paths. He even has hidden features to unlock
- 77-Piece activity set: coding Robots are great at learning new things, so botley comes with a remote programmer, detachable robot arms, 40 coding cards, 6 double-sided tiles, 27 obstacle building pieces and a starter guide with coding challenges
- Botley is a great educational and stem.Org authenticated as an educational product for 5 year olds+. with his advanced features, he can grow with children for many years of fun together
- Botley the coding robot requires 5 AAA batteries (3 botley & 2 remote). batteries are not included.
Description
Meet botley, the code to fun! As the newest member of the Learning Resources Family, botley the coding robot is here to introduce coding in an easy, friendly way. Children as young as 5 can learn to code with botley, and with his advanced features, he can grow with them for many years to come. Botley is ready to use right out of the box, so he will have kids coding in minutes (plan ahead: botley requires 5 AAA batteries, not included). botley is also 100% screen free; no phone or tablet required. Explore botley's advanced features and Code him for up to 80 steps, with 40 more you can discover. He can also follow looping commands or be programmed to go around objects with If/then logic. Turn on the black-line follow mode and set up a path for botley to travel. Botley even has hidden features to unlock! Botley includes a one-piece activity set, which includes coding cards, detachable arms, interactive obstacles, and Code games that are ready for endless hours of fun and learning. Learning coding with botley helps kid’s foster creativity and develop problem solving and critical thinking skills!
I recently purchased Botley the Coding Robot to test its usefulness in the classroom as an introduction to coding. Botley was simple to use and understand while still providing enough challenge for older students. I started with four students in the 3rd grade, and all four were engaged and enthralled. Botley teaches them to think through a path and plan, then helps them see how their plan either succeeds or fails. It gives instant feedback because Botley can only do what they tell it to do. This is a critical skill for understanding the basic idea of code and allows them to make corrections based on immediate feedback. The kit comes with a set of cards that match the buttons on Botley's remote, which allows students to visually plan the code before implementing it. When the code is successful, they can simply add on to it and keep going. When the code fails, a single button will erase Botley's memory so they can begin again.
I also turned my own children lose with Botley after a few basic instructions. My fourth-grade son, who has some previous coding experience, was able to quickly understand and implement the loop feature to help Botley navigate through mazes that he created. Botley was also simple enough for him to turn around and teach his kindergarten sister how to use. It entertained the two of them for several hours, and both said they would happily play with it again as we only briefly experimented with its line feature. I can see them creating complex patterns for Botley to follow in the future.
Overall, I see this having usefulness both at home and in the classroom. It is a great hands-on introduction to the basic concept of code without relying on any smart device. I intend to hand it to older students as well, because I think they will still have fun with it. I intend to purchase several more to keep at school. I'm sure my students would enjoy races to see who can program Botley to complete a task first. Great product, simple to use, and it won't break the bank.
This toy is so much fun. My kids are fighting over him! He is simple enough for a 5 year old to use, yet there is so much more we can do with him, and I know we will be learning for years to come. Rather than a simple "remote control robot" (which is what the kids thought it would be at first) they have to learn to plan out the code, see where they went wrong, and adjust accordingly... and with all the fun extras (puzzle pieces, flags, objects, blocks, etc) the possibilities for their creativity really are endless. I am homeschooling my kids, so I am excited to use this in science/tech/engineering applications... it is nice to have a coding activity without screen time!
The only drawback (and I wouldn't knock it down from 5 stars for this) is that it says "Ready To Use Right Out of the Box!" But then says right above that, that you need 5 AAA batteries, which are not included. So go add those to your Amazon cart, now, because when this arrives, your kids are not going to want to wait the extra 10-20 minutes for you to go find/buy batteries!!!
This is one of the best of multiple coding toys we've tried. The mouse version from the same company was a good entry level. Our kids are 6, and this has taken them up through several levels of difficulty. They could easily have started Botley a year earler. Note that the coding is really separate from the line following capability, and that the loop functions are pretty limited. But Botley gave us good tasks from half hour problems, to 4-hour marathons. Do be prepared to build a little bit of a "lesson" around it. It's a tool for teaching, not a teacher. Also, if the tires can slip at all, Botley will get out of line a bit, so you have to keep him on a clean non-slip surface. But really one of the best toys we've ever had. We've gifted it several times, and it was our go-to donation for toys-for-tots this year.
I got this for my 6 year old son. He was excited when the box came and couldn't wait to get started. It was easy to assemble and we were using it within 5 minutes of opening the box. After reviewing the basic functions with my son he was able to control Botley with little direction. Even my 3 year was interested and enjoyed Botley but she needed much more guidance and help to control him. This is a wonderful STEM activity for kids that keeps their minds thinking without the use of screens. When my son woke up the next morning he asked for Botley over tv which sold this product for me.
We got Botley for my 7 year old daughter. We are trying to involve more STEM learning at home, and she absolutely loved it! It was very easy for her to understand and incorporated coding into a fun learning experience. She loved making new obstacles and trying to figure out how to get Botley to his goal. This is a great way to introduce the basics of coding to younger kids while also incorporating fun.
A few tips for using Botley:
1. Make sure the surface you are on is flat and doesn't have any surface changes. We noticed it worked well on low pile carpet and laminate best. If we worked on tile, his wheels would sometimes get stick in the grooves and throw him a bit off course, which over the length of the course can cause him to ultimately miss his target.
2. Keep his wheels clean. They are made of a rubber substance that can grab hold of pet hair pretty amazingly, which works great if you are trying to pick up the pet hair, but it can coat his wheels and also cause him to slip when he turns.
3. Keep in mind that when telling him to go left or right, you are basing that off of the view from behind Botley, not from the front, so when helping your littles code, remind them that it is Botley's right or left and not theirs.
Overall, Botley is an amazing resource for STEM learning and an overall fun toy to play with!