We love robots that teach kids coding and engineering skills, so we’ve done the hard work of narrowing down the best coding robots for kids!
I’ll admit it. I use to have a problem with buying those hot new robot toys that pop up every year. Now, I have years of the same toy with different outside sitting around on shelves, in toy boxes, or even in the garage.
I have spent way too much money on overpriced robots for kids that are great on day one, but fail to engage my kids enough to keep them coming back.
Over the years, we have learned how to weed out the “bottom of the toy box” robots and find awesome robotics toys for kids that are both educational and engaging enough to spark months and years of learning through play!
Over the last decade, robots for kids have evolved from a simple remote control machine to complex supercomputers that we’ve watched in Sci-Fi movies for years.
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Why STEAM Toys for Kids?
STEAM is the abbreviation for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. STEAM, like STEM, is an integrated approach to learning that encourages learners to make connections between the concepts they are learning and how they apply them to real-world problems.
STEAM helps students ask questions, problem solve, think creatively, and produce innovative solutions. Many schools have adopted STEAM learning activities into their curriculum, but it’s never too early to start building critical thinking skills with STEAM toys.
We love to learn through play at our house and have a blast playing with the latest top-rated STEAM toys for toddlers, preschoolers, kids, and tweens!
Don’t Forget Batteries!
Most of these toys require batteries, lots of them! Make sure to grab batteries, so you are prepared to play!
18+ Robots that Teach Kids Coding and Engineering Skills
From Dash and Sphero to OWI Robotic Arm and Geckobot, we’ve done the hard work of narrowing down the best of the best coding robots for kids
Wonder Workshop Dash Coding Robot
Wonder Workshop Dash Coding Robot is one of the top rated robotics toys for kids over the age of six.
It’s no wonder that Dash is used in over 20,000 schools! Dash is unique in that kids can give voice commands to explore more with loops, sequences, algorithms, events, and conditions.
I’m a huge believer in verbalization as a way to make coding more understandable for kid coders and Dash is absolutely fantastic for just that! Dash is worth the price tag and is our top pick for advanced robotics toys. Dash (and Dot!) are also LEGO© compatible and can be topped with festive hats too!
Recommended ages: 6+
Find more Wonder Workshop Products
Learn with Mochi
Mochi is the Award-Winning Coding Rover for Ages 3-9. Kids learn the basics of computer programming in a playful, hands-on way as they explore STEM subjects through fun storybooks. Montessori approved, LEGO© Compatible.
Mochi Basic 1 Book Adventure Pack – $199.00
The Mochi Computer, your programmable Rover, Mochi Bear, 1 book, 1 map and 1 sets of craft pieces for Rover. As well as 12 coding blocks for all your coding adventures!
There are monthly subscription packages that offer different computational thinking adventures for Mochi!
Recommended ages: 3-9yrs
Find more Coding Rovers
Thames & Kosmos Geckobot
The Geckobot robot is a great opportunity to learn about air pressure, suction, mechanical properties.
The Geckobot kit from Thames & Kosmos looks pretty neat! This kit features 7 different robot experiments including the Geckobot that can walk vertically on smooth surfaces.
In addition to the Geckobot, you can also build a robotic arm with a vacuum suction cup gripper, crawling inch worm, smartphone holder, suction tow truck and car, ellipsograph, and suction gun.
Recommended ages: 8+
Find more Thames & Kosmos Robotic Toys
OWI Robotic Arm Edge
For some serious robotics, you need to get the OWI Robotic Arm Edge. This robotics kit is a build designed for kids ages 10 to 15.
The OWI Robotic Arm Edge kit is a great introduction to robotics from parts to play.
For kids under 12, adults will need to assist with the more than 200 pieces and screws that need to be put together to build the arm. We have this kit and it’s quite the challenge.
Once the arm is built, however, you can explore all of its amazing features including its radial wrist motion of 120 degrees, elbow range of motion of 300 degrees, base rotation of 270 degrees, and base motion of 180 degrees.
There are so many activities that you can do to test your robotic arm including issuing challenges to kids to pick up and move objects of varying sizes from one place to another with the robotic arm gripper that opens and closes.
Recommended ages: 10-15yrs
Find more Robotic Build Toys
20+ Tech Toys for Kids
We’ve hunted down the best tech toys for kids that are both educational and engaging and are sure to be a hit.
Robolink CoDrone Lite
The Robolink CoDrone is the first of its kind, a drone that can be built and programmed.
The CoDrone teaches kids coding concepts like conditionals, loops, and variables for flying their drone.
The CoDrone comes with an accelerometer, barometer, gyrometer, and an optical flow sensor that stabilizes flight. The drone is designed for kids over the age of 10 and has a transmission range of 65 feet.
The CoDrone was designed by Robolink, a company founded in 2012 with a mission to make STEM education accessible — much like our own mission here at Our Family Code! Robolink was the first company to make a programable educational drone as well as a self-driving car kit (you’ll find this awesome robot later in this article) to teach artificial intelligence!
Recommended ages: 10-18yrs
Find more Programmable Drones
Root Robot
Root Robot, from iRobot, was awarded the 2018 CES Best Toy from TechRadar and the Best Kids Tech from Tom’s Guide.
Root features a three level coding system that makes it great for kids all the way down to preschool!
Root introduces problem solving, computational thinking, debugging, engineering, mathematics, engineering, music, and art. It’s truly a STEAM robot and is one of the toys we are most excited about!
Root can be customized with 3D printing machines and its BLE protocol allows users to create projects with any programming language. One unique feature is that Root is the only coding robot that can stick to and climb magnetic whiteboard walls!
We are totally sold on this little robot and are super excited to see a robot that includes music and art especially one that offers three coding levels to get kids coding and grow with them as they learn real-world programming languages.
Recommended ages: 6+
Find more Programmable Robots
Sphero Bolt
Sphero BOLT is an app-enabled robotic ball that can be coded by drawing, using Scratch blocks, or writing JavaScript.
Sphero BOLT is waterproof and features a battery life of more than 2 hours.
BOLT is designed for kids ages 8 and up and has an 8×8 LED Matrix that displays real-time data as well as advanced sensors like its gyroscope, accelerometer, light sensor, compass, and infrared communications.
Sphero products are widely used in schools to teach programming because of their durability and the Sphere Edu app.
The Sphere BOLT is compatible with iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Chrome, and Kindle!
Recommended ages: 8+
Find more Sphero Robotics Products
Meccano Meccanoid
Hold on to your hats! Meccanoid is a 4ft tall robot that is designed for kids age 10 and above.
The Meccano Meccanoid XL robot features voice recognition, LED eyes, and smart device communication capabilities. There are three ways to program your robot that comes pre-programmed with over 3,000 phrases.
Building MeccaNoid isn’t for the faint of heart, however, there are more than 1,000 pieces to put together!! How else are you going to make an epic 4ft robot?
Recommended ages: 8+
Find more Meccano Robotics Products
Sphero RVR
Sphero RVR is an all terrain programmable coding robot with a mobile platform for hackers, makers, educators, and learners.
Sphero RVR is a new take on a programmable robot. RVR is drivable right out of the box, built to for customization, and comes designed with a suite of diverse sensors.
RVR is a mobile platform for hackers, makers, educators, and learners. The Sphero Edu app can be downloaded to drive or program the RVR anywhere.
RVR is equipped with all-terrain treads and a powerful motor that allows it to ride over uneven surfaces and around obstacles.
This educational robot features a vector-based control system that allows it to move where you want it to go. RVR features a hackable platform that has a 4-pin UART and an onboard power source that lets you connect and run third-party hardware like Raspberry Pi, BBC micro:bit, Arduino, or Sphero’s littleBits.
Recommended ages: 8+
Find more Sphero Robotics Products
Modular Robotics Cubelets
Cubelets are an award-winning robotics system for kids that was awarded Learning Magazine’s 2018 Teacher’s Choice Award for the Classroom.
Cubelets are very easy to use by simply snapping the different cubes together and observing the action that occurs.
The Cubelet Discovery Kit comes with 5 Cubelet blocks including 1 brightness cubelet, 1 flashlight cubelet, 1 drive cubelet, 1 battery cubelet, 1 distance cubelet, and 1 Bluetooth hat. The kit also includes two brick adapters that make Cubelets compatible with LEGO© bricks and other construction kits, which is a huge win in our book!
Cubelets are designed to grow with kids, progressing in difficulty as kids learn new skills. For kids ages 4+, Cubelets help children to learn robotics basics, cause and effect, gross motor skills, sorting, and sequencing. For kids 7+, Cubelets support computational thinking, critical thinking, designing and engineering, network basics, collaboration skills, and pattern recognition skills.
Finally, for kids 10+, Cubelets reinforce computer science basics, smarter coding, parallel programming, systems thinking, complexity basics, design thinking, networks, and abstraction skills.
Recommended ages: 4+
Find more Modular Robotics Products
Robots, Rockets, & Tech Toys for Kids!
We’ve done the hard work of sifting through the robotic toys, rocket kits, and tech toys for kids this season to bring you only the best, top-rated educational robots, rockets, and tech toys for kids
Jimu Robot UnicornBot
The UnicornBot is designed for kids 8 and older and is a fantastic way to get girls excited about robotics!
This Unicornbot robot kit comes with more than 400 pieces to build your own UnicornBot. Once you’ve built this magical creature, you can use the Blockly coding platform to operate your unicorn!
This Unicornbot robot kit comes with more than 400 pieces to build your own UnicornBot. Once you’ve built this magical creature, you can use the Blockly coding platform to operate your unicorn!
One thing we love about this robot is that it is a great entry robot to build with snap together blocks. However, it isn’t compatible with other building blocks like LEGO©.
We love that this UnicornBot is a toy that will inspire girls and boys alike and get them excited about robotics and coding!
Recommended ages: 8+
Find more UBTECH Jimu Robotics Products
LEGO© Mindstorms EV3 31313
Undoubtedly the most epic robotic toy on this list, the LEGO© Mindstorms EV3 robot kit is 601 pieces of epic building and programming for kids ages 10 to 15.
The Mindstorms EV3 kit comes with 17 different robotic designs that can be programmed to talk, walk, grab, shoot targets, and more!
The EV3 features the intelligent EV3 Brick, 3 servo motors, color sensors, touch sensors, and IR sensors that connect with the free EV3 programmer app to control the robot.
What’s really neat is that the LEGO© Mindstorms building sets are compatible with all LEGO construction sets, which means the sky is the limit for what your kids can create. Each robot takes 1-3 hours to build and then another hour or so to program.
For beginning coders, the programmer app features a drag and drop coding interface and progress to the more advanced coding software on a computer once they are comfortable with the basics of programming their robot.
Recommended ages: 10-15yrs
Find more LEGO© Mindstorms Products
Makeblock mBot Smart Robot
The mBot Smart Robot takes only 15 minutes to build and can be reconfigured to your imagination!
The mBot Smart Robot takes only 15 minutes to build and can be reconfigured to your imagination! There are several add-ons available to customize your mBot.
mBot is suitable for kids over the age of 8 and can be coded from the mBlock Blockly app available for iOS and Android.
mBlock, Makeblock’s more advanced coding software is available for both Mac and Windows operating systems and is a widely used entry-level coding software in more than 140 countries with more than 450,000 users.
What we love about this tech toy!
What we love most about this robot is the customization options as well as the pink robot options because we love inspiring future girl coders!
Recommended ages: 8+
Find more Makeblock Products
Snap Circuits Teach Tech Mech 5
Mech-5 is a one-of-a-kind Mechanical Coding Robot geared toward kids ages over 10.
Mech-5 is a mission-based, entry level robots that is designed to teach kids about mechanical engineering principles and foundational coding basics.
After assembling the robot, you can make Mech-5 throw, lift, kick, draw, and more by snapping the coding buttons onto the coding wheel. Mech-5 can move forward, backward, and rotate 360 degrees.
One thing we love about the Elenco Teach Tech products is that they are all green energy robots that are powered by either water, wind, or sun, so no batteries are required!
Elenco Teach Tech products are based on STEM activities (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) to teach and encourage kids in their development, all while having fun! All Teach Tech Green-Energy robots are powered by either water, wind, or sun, so there are no batteries required. Perfect for future engineers ages 10+.”
This kit is widely used in schools, libraries, and homes to enhance skills in children. It comes with an instruction guide to follow.
Recommended ages: 10+
Find more Elenco Teach Tech Products
Boe-Bot Robot Kit
The Boe-Bot robot takes under 2 hours to put together and each project in the Robotics text provides a unique new experience of wiring and source code tuning. No programming or electronics experience is needed!
Boe-Bot takes under two hours to put together and requires no electronics or coding experience to get started.
The entire set of projects are designed for kids 12 and older and take around 50 hours to complete.
There are many add-ons for Boe-Bot that include activities like making your Boe-Bot talk with a speech board, adding infrared remote control, maze contests, line following, interfacing direction sensors, and using RF modules and video equipment to build a Video-Bot.
We recommend getting started with the Boe-Bot Robot Kit and branching out with the separately sold attachments after you are comfortable with programming Boe-Bot.
There are more than enough projects included in the kit to get started and stay engaged for quite some time!
Recommended ages: 12+
Find more Boe-Bot Attachments
LEGO© Boost Creative Toolbox
The LEGO© Boost Creative Toolbox features 5 different projects right out of the box.
There are more than enough parts (847 pieces!) to build Vernie the robot, Frankie the cat, a factory production line, a guitar, and a horizontal rover bot.
This robotics toy is designed for kids between the ages of 7 to 12 and it’s an affordable option to other LEGO© robotics products. The toolbox is also compatible with LEGO© City Arctic Scout Truck and LEGO© Ninjago Stormbringer.
The LEGO© Boost Creative Toolbox was awarded the 2018 Toy of the Year Award and we totally understand why! This is a great toy to learn about building, learning about, and programming robots!
Recommended ages: 7-12yrs
Find more LEGO© Robotics Products
Robolink Zumi
Robolink Zumi is a self-driving care kit designed to teach kids about artificial intelligence.
Zumi is a self-driving car kit that makes learning about artificial intelligence accessible to adults and kids alike!
Zumi works with Blockly and Python programming and also function in Mac, PC, and Chromebook, making it versatile to schools and parents with kids who want to explore the basics of drones and coding.
Zumi comes with a 60-minute battery life and a 720p camera for object tracking and facial detection, which allow for efficient navigation while operating.
Robolink offers step-by-step tutorials and a full curriculum that is aligned with education standards. The curriculum walks you through what AI is, how it works, and how it can be used to solve real-world problems.
Zumi was designed by Robolink, a company founded in 2012 with a mission to make STEM education accessible — much like our own mission here at Our Family Code!
Robolink was the first company to make a programable educational drone (you’ll find this awesome robot earlier in this article!) as well as a self-driving car kit to teach artificial intelligence!
Recommended ages: 10+
Find more Robolink Products
Learning Resources Botley
Botley the Coding Robot is a completely screen-free coding robot that teaches kids to code and promotes critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Botley works right out of the box and kids can start coding in minutes. The remote programmer transmits commands and Botley gets moving.
The robot features smart logic that lets it detect objects in front of him and avoid them as well as follow looping commands, take on obstacle courses, and follow black line paths.
Botley is a 77 piece set that comes with a remote programmer, detachable robot arms, 40 coding cards, 6 double-sided tiles, 27 obstacle building pieces, and a starter guide that includes coding challenges.
Botley™ the Coding Robot Activity Set – $67.49
from: hand2mind
Botley is designed for kids age 5 and up making it a great first robot to get started coding and grow with.
Recommended ages: 5+
Find more Learning Resources Botley Products
Fisher-Price Code ‘n Learn Kinderbot
Kinderbot is an interactive preschool robot that teaches preschool math, problem solving, and more through coding!
Fisher-Price Code ‘n Learn Kinderbot is an interactive learning toy that comes to life with lights and phrases.
Kinderbot teaches preschoolers early math concepts, colors, shapes, and more with three ways to play.
To move Kinderbot, preschoolers enter different codes and complete coding challenges as they figure out how to program paths for their robot.
Recommended ages: 3-6yrs
Find more Preschool Robotics Products
Educational Insights Artie 3000
A 2020 Toy of the Year Finalist, Artie 3000 pairs tech with art to make learning to code fun and relatable for kids!
Artie 3000 is a STEAM style robot that is designed to create visual masterpieces through code!
Artie is super easy to setup with a QuickStart guide, step-by-step instruction cards, and FAQs.
Artie 3000 can be programmed by using your tablet or computer to draw your code creations by dragging blocks of code to tell Artie how and what to draw.
For more advanced kid coders, Artie can be programmed using coding applications including Remote Control, Point & Click, Blockly, Snap!, Python, and JavaScript.
Test your program on the online simulator, then set Artie on any sheet of paper and watch as he draws what you programmed! Pairing art + tech allows kids to explore their creativity while also learning foundational coding skills!
The only negative we have for Artie is that it does require 4 AA batteries that are not included. Other than that, we love this STEAM robot! You can find out more information on CodewithArtie.com!
Recommended ages: 7-12yrs
Find more STEAM Robots
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STEAM Gift Guides
Looking for a STEM or STEAM toy? Check out these gift guides for more information on our top STEAM toys for kids!
Robots, Rockets, & Tech Toys for Kids that Rock!
We’ve done the hard work of sifting through the robotic toys, rocket kits, and tech toys for kids this season to bring you only the best, top-rated educational robots, rockets, and tech toys for kids that ROCK!
20+ Best Tech Toys for Kids that Rock!
We’ve hunted down the best tech toys for kids that are both educational and engaging and are sure to be a hit.
Blast Off with the Best Rockets for Kids!
These rocket toys for kids are sure to be a hit while also teaching some pretty awesome physics concepts like trajectory, force, and gravity. Learn the science behind rocket propulsion with these rockets that are great for active kiddos!
The Best STEM Toys for Little Builders Under 5
Encourage little builders and strengthen fine motor skills with these STEM toys for kids under 5!
STEAM Gifts for Preschoolers that Cost Less Than $25
We’ve narrowed down the top STEAM toys for preschoolers under $25! Check out these great learning toys that teach STEAM concepts through play designed for kids 5 and under!
Coding with Awbie: Teach Kids to Code with Osmo
Find out why we love to use Coding Awbie to teach kids ages 3-9 how to string together commands and learn basic concepts of coding with Osmo!
Meet Toni, the Maker Mom behind Our Family Code
Hey there, I’m Toni! I’m a software engineer and Maker Mom that finds my joy in unleashing my children’s curiosity by exploring STEAM concepts with my fantastic five!
When I’m not chasing toddlers or raising tweens, you can find me tearing things up and putting them back together over here at Our Family Code.
I am the owner and content creator of multiple educational websites designed to increase access to STEAM & STEM education with a focus on teaching computer science and coding to kids of all ages!
You can also find out more about me by visiting ToniGardner.com!
