Thames & Kosmos Robotics Smart Machines Junior

After building most of the machine, we found the wheel's axle was missing, so it could not be operated. This was very disappointing for my grandson.

My son spent hours building this and realized half way one of the parts (h4) is broken and is stuck now…

I love the robot but it takes a lot of time to make it but it works really good🙂

Multiple missing pieces, very disappointed, and have a very sad child on Christmas.

I gave this to my nine year old grandson and he absolutely loves it. He loves building things and learning so i knew he would like it. He had it all put together in no time with the help of the step by step manual. The microcontroller, or brain has inputs for LED lights, a speaker, two motors, and a battery, teaching kids about each component's function. I would definitely recommend it.

My son is 12 years old and had so much fun putting this together and getting it to work. It was perfect for him since he is interested in fixing and bulding things. It could be a litrle difficult at times, but he figured it out and had a blast.

Wow!! This is so fun! My 9 year old daughter absolutely loved assembling it and was able to do it completely independently. My 7 year old daughter loves to play and program it as well. We haven’t downloaded the app yet so I do not have a review for that aspect of it.

Thames & Kosmos Robotic Smart Machines Junior was a bit challenging to build, it has many pieces to assemble, but worthy, it has two modes to play with built-in buttons or with the app using controls and programming. This robot has sounds, lights and movements that make it so fun! My kids really enjoy it

Originally I got this for my nine year old to have her explore her engineering side but I ended up doing most of it. She just helped me find the pieces I needed. The age is 8+ but it took me (40 year old) over two hours to complete this. Then my husband had to figure out why it didn’t work and had to redo the main board configurations. Once it worked, my kids loved it and I enjoyed putting it together!

Fun and relatively easy for kids to build and play with. My 8 year old and 6 year old loved building this and play with it often. They definitely required adult supervision and help but both were engaged in the process and had fun.

This Thames & Kosmos Robotics Smart Machines Junior is a favorite for my 10 year old. I will learn you, out of the box it comes in 100’s of pieces and not all are in the same bag as you proceeded to each step. I actually put this together myself mostly because my 10-year-old lacks patience. It’s easy with the included instructions but takes time. The app is very easy to use. The robot makes noises, moves etc. You can control it with the buttons on the robot Itself or control it with the app. What a great STEM product!

Here's an updated review: "We got the Thames & Kosmos Robotics Smart Machines Junior for my 8-year-old daughter, and it has been an exciting experience! This was her first robot kit, and she absolutely loves it. The app allows her to create simple codes for the robot, which has added an extra layer of fun as she learns how to program. The kit is a great way to introduce her to STEM concepts in a hands-on, engaging way. However, we’ve occasionally had some trouble getting a stable connection with the Bluetooth, which can be a bit frustrating at times. Despite that, I still highly recommend this kit—it’s educational, fun, and sparks creativity!"

This robot is marked ages 8+. I put it together with my 10 year old and it took approx 2.5-3 hours. An adult is definitely needed. Once together the controls on top of the head are just ok. It goes forward, backward, and turns to both sides. I downloaded the app and my daughter had fun programming it to do certain things. She’s just beginning to learn how to do that. In my opinion the app is a MUST. Otherwise you could barely get it to do anything. Overall it’s a cool gadget for kids really STEM inclined.

This toy is so fun! My son is super into coding and robotics right now and this is the perfect toy for him. It can do so many different things and putting it together is fun as well. I love that it's a learning toy as well as a fun toy.

I picked this out hoping it would stimulate some interest in building/programming for my daughter. I wanted it to be something we could do together. Unfortunately, she wasn't really interested, so my review is my own as an adult. Building the robot was pretty straightforward. I could easily see a motivated child having a lot of fun with it. A few pieces were a bit of a pain to get together, but nothing crazy. The plastic does feel a bit cheap, but I never felt like anything was going to break by forcing it. Steps were clear and it took maybe an hour or so to fully assemble. There were bunch of extra screws in mine, so that was a nice "just in case". Once it's built, though, it is very limited. Yes, you can "program" it, but it's nothing too interesting and seems a bigger hassle than it's worth. The pairing with my tablet was easy enough (via Bluetooth in the app), and it took the commands just fine, but it's pretty lackluster in the end. If I had this when I was growing up (1980s) pre computers and internet being the norm at home, I would have loved it. As it is now, it doesn't really compare to what all these smart gadgets we have can do. I know this is a "junior", which I suppose is meant to be an entry to robotics and such, but it would be far cooler if it was something you could take apart and assemble into different things. Just having a limited robot, I don't see this getting much use too far down the line, even if my kid was super into the concept. In other words, I suspect anyone that is into this stuff would want to grow into the next step (whatever that may be) quickly, as you're going to burn out on this one pretty quick, I think.

I love these kits for kids. My son was so excited to try this out. He built it all by himself and then did the coding on both the iPad and robot. It kept him entertained and he was so focused. Those were bonus for me. It was great experience for him and he would to do more.

This was fun introduction into coding! It took about an hour to put together, with a little help from the adults along the way. It's helpful to separate the parts page to refer back while you build. The robot is a ton of fun once completed; and promotes creative learning. There are many cool features on the free app that brings hours of fun.

This fantastic kit is well organized and comes with easy to follow instructions. There are a lot of small pieces so it’s best to open packaging as you go and not all at once. Our kids are 7 and 9 and don’t have a lot of experience with building kits so they need assistance from us. It’s a great family activity! I think it will take us a few sessions to complete since the kids are leading the way.

This is a pretty cool robot! My 12 year old son put him together in about an hour. You will need a small screwdriver and batteries so keep that in mind before you start. All of the pieces were well packaged and easy to see where everything is. This was a really fun project for him and he liked programming it even more. I think this is something perfect for kids who are showing an interest in coding. I think 8 minimum is a good age range for this depending on the child. It is a more advanced "toy", but a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend this!

I found this pretty easy to put together. My eight year old mixed up a few pieces up because they looked similar, but with the instructions I found it easy to fix. I wish the cables in the back were more tucked in some where instead of being loose. My daughter loves the different ways to play, but wishes the arms moved as well. She has yet to unlock the other modes but is excited to make it dance around with the coding part. Great educational toy and provides hours of entertainment.