Remember last week when I posted about all the great stuff I got Riley for Christmas? Well, yesterday my husband lost his damn mind and bought him another gift. A HUGE gift. He bought him a LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 
, commonly called a Lego robot.
, commonly called a Lego robot.
LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0
My first exposure to these robots was through a summer camp Riley participated in at COSI, our local kid's science museum. The kids used the LEGO Mindstorms sets to build these robots and program them, using a computer, to complete particular tasks. One of the cool things about these robots is that they have all sorts of sensors they use to follow the programs kids create. Below, the robots are using some sort of light sensor thingie (technical term) to follow that masking tape line on the floor. (Crappy cell phone pics ahead - sorry.)
Riley with his robot he built at camp.
Riley and his team preparing for the FLL competition.
So, why am I telling you all this?
Basically, because these things are really freaking cool.
They teach kids about engineering, robotics, problem solving, and computer programming, not to mention creativity. If you've seen my previous Gifts for Boys posts, you know that I really try hard to find gifts that are BOTH educational and creative. You can build all sorts of robots, and program them to do all sorts of cool stuff. Riley was just telling me today how some kid on his robotics team programmed his robot to go up and down stairs. I think it's pretty awesome that a 9-year-old can do that.
If you're going to spend a bunch of money on a gift for a kid in your life (yes, this is cool for girls too - you can see above that one of Riley's teammates is female), why not get them something fun and creative and educational rather than blowing a bunch of cash on an iPad or some video game? They're not cheap, but they certainly aren't as expensive as some of the techie gifts I hear kids asking for this year.
Riley is going to LOSE. HIS. MIND. when he opens this on Christmas morning. I know lots and lots of you have Lego fans too, so I thought I would put my assessment of the Mindstorm robots out there, in case it might help you with your holiday shopping.
My first exposure to these robots was through a summer camp Riley participated in at COSI, our local kid's science museum. The kids used the LEGO Mindstorms sets to build these robots and program them, using a computer, to complete particular tasks. One of the cool things about these robots is that they have all sorts of sensors they use to follow the programs kids create. Below, the robots are using some sort of light sensor thingie (technical term) to follow that masking tape line on the floor. (Crappy cell phone pics ahead - sorry.)
Riley has since joined the Lego robotics team in our area, and is preparing, along with his team, for the FLL (First Lego League) competition, which is in just a few weeks.
So, why am I telling you all this?
Basically, because these things are really freaking cool.
They teach kids about engineering, robotics, problem solving, and computer programming, not to mention creativity. If you've seen my previous Gifts for Boys posts, you know that I really try hard to find gifts that are BOTH educational and creative. You can build all sorts of robots, and program them to do all sorts of cool stuff. Riley was just telling me today how some kid on his robotics team programmed his robot to go up and down stairs. I think it's pretty awesome that a 9-year-old can do that.
If you're going to spend a bunch of money on a gift for a kid in your life (yes, this is cool for girls too - you can see above that one of Riley's teammates is female), why not get them something fun and creative and educational rather than blowing a bunch of cash on an iPad or some video game? They're not cheap, but they certainly aren't as expensive as some of the techie gifts I hear kids asking for this year.
Riley is going to LOSE. HIS. MIND. when he opens this on Christmas morning. I know lots and lots of you have Lego fans too, so I thought I would put my assessment of the Mindstorm robots out there, in case it might help you with your holiday shopping.
my hubby has one that he loves to tinker with
ReplyDeleteLost his damn mind huh?
ReplyDeletemy boys love lego and play with it for hours. i put it on all the grandparents' lists. mine are only 5 and 3 and are currently into the hero factory stuff from lego but i bet they would think these robot things are awesome in a few years!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine got one for his birthday (a 25 year old telecommunications engineer, mind you), and it's so awesome it hurts. I think it's a perfect present for anyone techie enough (you will get right to the heart of a computer geek with one, definitely!), and you are right, giving this to kids is a great creativity boost!
ReplyDelete