Roadrunner Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 My kids handed me their Santa list last night. The only thing on it is Lego Robotics set. Sounds easy, right? yes, until I decided to check it out. The lego website has so many different options that my head is spinning. My kids are 7.5 and 6. The older one is mature and can do all sorts of things with Snap Circuits on his own. The younger one will be mostly a spectator. What should I buy? There is Lego Mindstroms set (in many varieties) and then there is Lego WeDo, which also comes in a number of different combinations (homeschool set, regular set). Please help if you have any experience with this. What do you think will be the best choice to make here if money were no consideration and what would be the best budget option (we don't know yet what our budget will be). I am hoping to get something that kids will use for a while, not just build it one time and be done with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 We bought a Lego Mindstorms robot for my husband a few years ago that I hoped my oldest would help him with. Ds wasn't too interested (he's not a detail kind of guy) at age 10. Dd and younger ds (6) loved it but dh did the programming. Dd and younger ds just got it out again and are having a blast playing with it - they are 13 and 11 now. We've never used WeDo, so I can't give any info on that. So, I think it really depends on the kid and what they enjoy. Another option is OLLO Robots...http://www.amazon.com/Robotis-901-0010-200-OLLO-Action-Robot/dp/B0051OESKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSNative Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Since your kids are younger, I would get the WeDo set. My younger kids loved it. They could grab the manual, follow the directions and program the robot all by themselves. They can make lots of diff. builds - birds, monkeys, planes, lions, etc. You can then have them change the gears or adjust the lever lengths so they can learn some basic engineering skills. Mindstorms are great, but they tend to work better for older kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSNative Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Oops, lots of duplicate posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSNative Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Duplicate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 I think they are a bit too young for the Mindstorm. I recommend the WeDo. It's pretty easy to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 Since your kids are younger, I would get the WeDo set. My younger kids loved it. They could grab the manual, follow the directions and make the robot go. They can make lots of diff. builds - birds, monkeys, planes, lions, etc. Mindstorms are great, but they tend to work better for older kids. WeDo it is then. I definately want them (at least the older) to build themselves instead of just watching my DH. Is this the set I should be buying? http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/product/lego_education_wedo_robotics_homeschool_pack/1736 This is all I need or do I need to be buying more parts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 FWIW, I was looking at this one http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/product/simple_machines_set/2297 , though I bought my older ones (9 y.o.) old Dacta sets on ebay. I've already bought so many Legos for Christmas that I may wait on this one until ds6's next birthday in late spring. Eta, this one is not robotic, but simple machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSNative Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 WeDo it is then. I definately want them (at least the older) to build themselves instead of just watching my DH. Is this the set I should be buying? http://www.legoeduca...chool_pack/1736 This is all I need or do I need to be buying more parts? That is all you need. It comes with the build and programming directions. I think one build requires an extra item. The monkey bangs on paper cup drums and you supply the paper cups. I never have the right height ones, so the monkey bangs on whatever is handy or air. Other than that, everything you need is in the box. Hope your kids enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 FWIW, I was looking at this one http://www.legoeduca...chines_set/2297 , though I bought my older ones (9 y.o.) old Dacta sets on ebay. I've already bought so many Legos for Christmas that I may wait on this one until ds6's next birthday in late spring. Eta, this one is not robotic, but simple machines. That website is a labyrinth you can't escape :D Everything looks good. Did you see their solar station extension pack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 WeDo it is then. I definately want them (at least the older) to build themselves instead of just watching my DH. The Junior First Lego League (non-competitive, 6-9 years old) use WeDo. You might want to see if there is any Junior FLL event near you and bring your kids to see what the teams create with their WeDo. ETA: My boys asked for the Mindstorm. They want to "make" a remote-control robot they can control using my iPod or their laptop (with a usb dongle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 How much building experience do they have with regular legos and especially technic elements? I know your kids from previous posts and I don't think the drag-and-drop Mindstorm programming will be an issue for them at all, to me the determiner would be the mechanical side. If they are really good builders, I'd go for Mindstorm. I don't recommend that for everybody with younger kids, but in your case I think it gives them room to grow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Do they want a robotic kit, or just a toy robot that they can program with simple commands on a remote control pad to make it do stuff? If it's the latter, how about a WowWee RoboPet? They are very fun, and there's no assembly required. (Do NOT pay the ridiculous price on Amazon -- we bought ours several years ago for about $50, so you should be able to find one on eBay for a reasonable price.) We have all of the WowWee Robo toys, and the RoboPet is hands-down the best one. It's also small in size, so it's not a nuisance to put away when the kids are done playing with it. Also, there's the Tomy IsoBot. It's small, but incredibly fun and interesting. It can hold kids' interest for a long time. (Again, look somewhere other than Amazon. I think we paid close to $200 for ours when we bought it, but I have seen it for less than $75. It might be another thing you could find on eBay.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 I attempted to multiQuote with no success. "I think it gives them room to grow." - I was wondering if that was the case. If we go for the Mindstrom, can we just keep adding various things throughout years or the technology changes too fast? As to the building experience? They build elaborate things with regular Legos, but they haven't done anything like Mindstrom. My older does well with CargoBot and loves Scratch, but I am not sure if that will be helpful with Lego. I checked for First Lego League, but there is nothing in our area. I put my name in the database, so hopefully somebody will see it. "Do they want a robotic kit, or just a toy robot that they can program with simple commands on a remote control pad to make it do stuff?" I don't think we know enough to even understand this question :blushing: . My older boy has been watching the Nova program on robots over and over again and he learned about Lego robotics sets from one of the boys in his classroom. I think he got this idea in his head that he is going to build an actual robot (thank you Nova :001_smile: ). Of all the things they could be asking for Christmas, this is probably the best one. I want to get this right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Mindstorms are interchangeable with technic pieces, so you can add to it with those, but other than that and some additional parts (maybe a couple more sensors, an additional NXT brick and a bluetooth dongle) no, there is really nothing to add to the initial kit. As far as I understand it, when Lego produces a new version you will have to re-invest rather than upgrade, but I think this has to do with the programming software, not the pieces. Mindstorm is great for simple programming and can be built into all kinds of cool robots. You really have to know how to design well though to use it fully (perhaps that is why it is such an open-ended tool - since design capabilities increase with age), and ds says it is less flexible to design with than other types of Legos. There are tons of books and websites that can get you started with various robots and many have the programming sequences listed too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 If we go for the Mindstrom, can we just keep adding various things throughout years or the technology changes too fast?. We were wondering when Mindstorm NXT 3 is going to come out but no news and FLL is using Mindstorm NXT 2.0. The technic pieces are compatible to the Mindstorm kit. The NXT Intelligent Brick may or may not be flash upgradeable to NXT 3 if and when a new version does come out. There are people still playing/programming with Mindstorm 1.0 so I don't see Mindstorm 2 becoming obsolete once a new version comes out. The only effect of a new version would be if you are participating in the FLL competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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