Looking for great robot kits for kids? We’ve got one for every age!

For the little littles

Educational Insights Drill Robot

Designed for kids ages 3 and up, this robot toy can help younger children develop fine motor skills. Included in the box is a child-safe plastic screwdriver and a set of screws that can be used to put the robot together or take it apart on a whim. Master the art of righty-tighty and lefty-loosey for those all-important building skills later in life.

$13 at Amazon

Skitterish fun

4M Table Top Robot Spider

While this may look like a very elaborate prank (and to be fair, it can be if you choose it to be), this is, in fact, a robot spider that excels in teaching young kids the basics of robotics and construction. But it just doesn’t scuttle around; it can perform acrobatic tricks and even knows when to sidestep an object that is in front of it. The only downside is you’ll need AAA batteries (which aren’t included), but even then, you’ve got a robot that’ll keep you and your child talking for days without spending very much.

$20 at Amazon

Can you transform this can?

Green Science Solar Rover kit

Do you enjoy beverages from cans? Instead of just tossing them in the recycle bin, get this kit to turn a few of them into bonefide solar-powered vehicles, instead! This kit is great for teaching your kids the benefits of recycling, the wonder of solar-power, and the tricks of the trade in engineering. Grab a few and assemble your very own Boy Scout Pine Derby-esque race, or check out any of Green Science’s other robot kits for similar ideas, all of which are super affordable.

$16 at Amazon

Hybrid intelligence

Pica Toys Solar Car kit

If the previous entry piqued your interest, then this next kit will surely tickle your fancy. This complete kit lets your kids build a hybrid solar-powered car that they can actually drive with the included remote — also a piece that they’ll put together. It’s an introduction to building electronics and motors, as well as an amateur driving session with a remote-controlled vehicle, all while educating them on how a solar panel can charge the batteries that power the motor.

$30 at Amazon

Steampunk aesthetics

Tinkering Labs Electric Motors Catalyst

Tinkering Labs has put together a robot kit that’s deceptively simple on the surface. Wooden pieces can be snapped together in seemingly any fashion to create the frame of your very own customizable robot. Pop the included motors on the most logical place and you’ll soon have the most unique vehicle your child’s imagination can cook up. The included challenge cards help get your kids acquainted with the concepts and, from there, they’ll likely be spending hours putting together all sorts of cool gadgets.

$60 at Amazon

A learning experience

Elenco Hydrobot Arm Kit

Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated with using one of those little grabber tools to reach up high and get cans out of the cabinet, position action figures higher up than I could reach, or to just drive everyone crazy. This robot arm is decidedly smaller and less mobile, but it’s far more fascinating to use and it’s a phenomenal way to learn about hydraulics and how to control the same kinds of robots and machinery that you’ll find on construction sites and in factories.

$40 at Amazon

All the things

Sillbot Solar-powered 12-in-1 robot kit

Sillbot has put together a robot kit that’ll let your kids build 12 pre-configured robots, all powered by the Sun. There aren’t even batteries here to charge, just pure solar-power. All the buildable robot options are wildly different from one another, and none of them need an app or additional electonic device to operate, either. Once your kids have gone through all 12 options, they’ll have an idea of how to truly customize their own robots from the diverse kit of pieces.

$28 at Amazon

Become one with the Force

Sphero BB-8

If your kid is a Star Wars fan… Well, this is the pretty obvious solution, right? Sphero BB-8 allows you to take control of the lovable droid through your smartphone, as well as voice control, or the super authentic-feeling wrist-mounted Force Band. It can last about an hour before needing to be charged (which takes 3 hours), but its body can definitely take some damage and your kid will even get into the spirit of Star Wars thanks to the robot’s holographic video viewing option. R2-D2 is also available for around $200 but is quite a bit harder to find. May the Force be with you.

$239 at Amazon

You’ll have a ball

Sphero Mini Activity Kit

Sphero Mini is a robot that’s wholly unique on this list. Instead of piecing together the robot and playing with the final design, Sphero Mini is a robot completely encapsulated inside a small sphere about the size of a ping pong ball. You’ll be assembling an obstacle course that Sphero Mini can run through, completely controlled by the Sphero app on your smartphone. As is the case with several of these robots, Sphero Mini can be used for simple play or, as a more advanced choice, to learn how to code and create automated code-based ways for the robot to move.

$80 at Amazon

Hard to argue with LEGO

LEGO Boost Creative robot

When you think of building toys, you almost assuredly think of LEGO. The name is simply synonymous with creative building toys for a good reason, and LEGO Boost Creative robot will give your kids a new understanding of robots and coding with 847 pieces of joy. Thanks to the LEGO Boost app, available for Android or iOS, your kids can enjoy hundreds of hours of activities that are designed not just to be fun, but also to help them learn to code — one of the most important skills to learn for the digital age.

$160 at Amazon

Wall-E who?

UBTECH JIMU Robot Astrobot

The UBTECH JIMU Robot introduces a buildable robot that you can shape and create in whichever way you want. But it doesn’t stop there. You can also code the JIMU robot in a way that can teach it to navigate obstacles, pick-up objects, control lights and sound effects, and even give it a personality of its very own. While this is might be more suitable for older kids, younger kids will still have fun learning to code and build with ease. And if you’re ever stuck, the app (iOS and Android) will be there to help you. UBTECH also sells a dragon model or a unicorn model that both feature the same capabilities as the Robot Astrobot.

$120 at Amazon