VEX Robotics Strandbeast: Kids Nice List Gift Idea

Back In The Day

I remember being a little girl and we would watch the show the Jetsons, it was one of my favorites. It was so outer space to have a robots roam the city and drive in flying cars. I would day-dream about when I grew up, would we have flying cars? Would robot maids wait on us? Would we eat dehydrated foods?

Twenty years + later and no I don’t have a robot maid, although that idea does sounds interesting, my car has four wheels, I do enjoy dehydrated fruit but my kids are playing with robots! Which means we are getting closer to a robot maid, right? A girl can dream.

VEX Robotics Strandbeast

Robots have been around forever, but they have never been in our homes like this before. This company started small and over the years they have grown their robotics to a much bigger scale. The robot I am talking about today measures 12.5” long, 14” wide, and 10” tall and has 8 legs. He moves forward, backwards and does a 360 spin. You can drive the robot manually with a remote control, or choose autonomous drive mode and watch the Strandbeast scurry around all by itself, mimicking real-life movements. The best part of this robot is he comes in over 400 snap together pieces that centralized the brain and bring it to life.

What I like best about the VEX Robotics Strandbeast is the fact that my child gets to build a robot from the ground up and then program him in 64 different programming variations. Recently, the kids have been requesting to watch TEDTalks: Robotic Machinations on Netflix. I am not sure if you have seen any of the TEDTalks but they extremely educational and an opportunity to open up conversation about topics you never would think of. The TEDTalks: Robotic Machinations series is so fascinating the kids have even repeated episodes. Learning starts at home and introducing a toy to them that they can create is rewarding as a parent.

The VEX Robotics Strandbeast kit teaches kids that…

• Motors receive signals from the brain, spinning into action, kicking the legs into gear.
• Distance sensors reflect infrared light to alert the beast before it crashes into its surroundings.
• LED module changes color as the strandbeast walks.
• The brain is the centralized computer that powers the strandbeast, relaying signals from the remote control, and activating the motors and sensors to bring the creature to life!

Do you have a child over 8 on your nice list this season? Gift them the gift of creativity, science and hand on educational learning. Plus the inspiration to look into how things work in the world around them will open a door to many more educational learning’s along the way.

Intrigued to learn more?

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Thank you for reading In R Dream!

Although a product sample was received for this review, no other compensation was accepted. As always opinions are our own.