11 Programmable Robot Toys for Kids

Programming and robotics are skills we most probably will need the most in the coming years as most of, if not everything converges nowadays towards autonomous and self-controlled systems. What if you could help your kids learn these skills from childhood? That will make the transition smoother if by any chance they happen to need these skills in the future.

Programming robot toys are not only good because they help kids learn, but they also offer a wide range of possibilities which will certainly increase the time a kid keeps his enthusiasm alive to a particular toy.

Here is a list of some of the best programmable robot toys you might need to get your hand on right now.

The best Programmable robot toy list

Ollie

Ollie is an app-enabled robot that can travel up to 14 mph. It is iOS & Android compatible. This programmable toy is recommended for kids of 8 years and up. Ollie is a simple BlueTooth-powered device that can Spin, drift, and flip, and most importantly be programmed to do a combination of its native moves in a certain order for a chosen duration.

Overall, Ollie is just a nice looking RC car that will allow you to program its behavior using built-in native moves such as the Spin, Drift, and Flip.

Sphero SPRK

Sphero SPRK is the upgraded and educational version of the Sphero 2.0. This device was primarily designed to help kids learn sequential programming in the smoothest way possible. There is a strong community built around Sphero SPRK with free lessons to help parents and kids learn all the possible features of this toy.

Sphero SPRK is a BlueTooth app-enabled robot that comes with some sample programs to help you quickly figure out and write your first program easily. You can register to the user community, share and get to know what others are doing with theirs.

Dash & Dot

Dash and Dot are two fun and easy to use interactive robots that teach kids about programming while they are having fun. These robots come ready to play with right out of the box. These robots were built with durability in mind, they are quite robust and have the ability to record and talk. 

Dash and Dot are more similar to Ollie and Sphero SPRK in the way they are controlled, but Dash and Dot have way more capabilities than Ollie and Sphero.

Romibo

Romibo is more like a pet robot that can make some noise, walk, flashlight, avoid colliding into the wall, sensitive to touch. It is controlled by an app. This is a social robot built to help kids with autism.

Romibo can track eye contact and speak up to 26 languages. There is a lot more to come in what Romibo is capable of.

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Cubelets

Cubelets are one of the most revolutionary programmable robot kits out there. It is a cubic robot construction kits, a system of interlocking and interacting boxes that have each a particular function. These cubelets are divided into three major groups: Action cubelets, sense cubelets and think cubelets. You must have guessed, they respectively play the role of outputs, inputs, and brain.

Cubelets can be arranged in a variety of ways to make fun and useful robots that will improve the kid sense of coordination and will enhance his/her capacity to work on result-driven-projects.

WowWee MIP

MIP from WowWee is a self-balancing robot with a ton of personalities that will keep the kid entertained and push him/her to cooperate with MIP through visual programming to push its boundaries. One of the coolest features of this robot is that you do not necessarily need the app to control it. It features gesture-control capabilities, meaning you can use your hand to have it behave in a certain way.

There are a bunch of mode MIP can operate at, from gesture control to dancing mode and more.

AnkiDrive

AnkiDrive is one of the most revolutionary projects that brings robotic and artificial intelligence together in such a way even an adult will be fascinated by. This robot set comes with a track, and cars having each a different personality and all controlled by an app.

While on the track, each car can sense where it is located on the track and at the same control his behavior in accordance with its surroundings. The good news here is, the kid will be able to take control of each of these cars and have them do pretty cool stuff.

LittleBits

LittleBits is a combination of little devices that kids can combine to have it do pretty much everything. This is the perfect kit to ignite creativity considering the almost infinite number of possible application the kid can come out with using the littleBits.

They are basically safe electronic circuit boards and modules that you can combine to build up to a hundred projects out of the box.

Nano-Falcon Helicopter

The Nano-Falcon is one of the smallest RC helicopters you will find on the market right now, it is actually an infrared, 3-channels RC helicopter for indoor flight.

Calling this a programmable toy will be a little exaggerated but we all love stuff that flies, don’t we? I caught my own self enjoying flying this little guy.

RoboMe

RoboMe is a remote-controlled very talkative robot with lots of modes you can customize at a glance. It is an updated version of the MIP with the possibility to hold and use the power of your phone.

14in1 Educational Solar Robot

The 14in1 Solar robot is a solar-powered robot capable of taking 14 totally different shapes and personalities. By order of difficulties, its different bodies are Turtle-bot, Walker-bot, Quadru-bot, Wheel-bot, Boat-bot, Beetle-bot, Dog-bot, Auto-bot, Crab-bot, Slither-bot, Roly poly-bot, Boxer-bot, Surf-bot, and Row-bot. Remember this is solar-powered, you will need sunlight or some bright light-emitting on the solar receiver to have it work.