The 7 Best Robot Toys For Kids This Christmas Nigeria

This Christmas is the perfect time for you to buy your kids a
robot toy for them to enjoy and maybe learn a few things from.
Here’s a look at some of the best robot toys out there for kids of
all ages.

There are plenty of different robot toys out there so we’ve
narrowed things down to key areas like the age of your kids, and
what you want them to gain from the robot. Of course, they’re all
great fun to play with but a few of these toys will also teach your
kids useful skills such as programming concepts—if you’re looking
for even more options to encourage an interesting in coding and
science check out our
favorite coding kits for kids^[1] and coding
toys^[2]. As for robots, here’s
our pick of the bunch.

Best For Toddlers: Dimple Wireless Remote Control Robot Puppy
($45)

There’s barely an age that’s too young for robot toys these
days. That’s thanks to cute robotic toys like Dimple
the Wireless Remote Control Robot Puppy^[3]. The pooch offers
multiple different play modes, with the ability to sing, dance,
crawl, stand, and speak. He can teach your kids the alphabet, as
well as play familiar songs to teach them key concepts. As you’d
expect, he’s super cute looking too.

Dimple charges via USB and his remote works from up to 6.5 feet
away, so he’s simple to use yet technologically sound. Consider him
a fine introduction to intelligent toys.BUY ON AMAZON^[4]

Best For Simple Programming: Makeblock Codey Rocky ($99)

The Makeblock Codey Rocky^[5] is a cute little
robot that rides around on wheels. You can teach him basic actions
like following a circuit, relaying a message on his LED screen, and
even get him to say hello.

Where things get smarter is through his 10 programmable
electronic sensors, including a gyroscope, so that programming
potential is fairly varied. You can even attach building blocks
like LEGO pieces to him, to expand his look and style. There’s the
option of hooking him up to IoT devices too.

This gets a little complicated though, so Codey Rocky’s greatest
strength as a Christmas gift lies in the simple tasks you can teach
him, and his durability. Your toddler can drop him without much
issue, while your older child can teach him basic commands.
Effectively, he can grow with your child’s knowledge. We looked at
him in-depth earlier
this year.BUY ON AMAZON^[6][7]

Best For Voice Activation: Wonder Workshop Dash ($120)

Wonder
Workshop’s Dash^[8] is a lot like Codey
Rocky but with a few neat extra features. Notably, Dash will listen
to your child’s voice and respond accordingly. As well as that,
kids can program it, giving them the opportunity to learn about
loops, events, and conditions. Dash Challenge Cards are included
which teach you and your child more about what everything means.
Several games are built into Dash but you can code many more
too.

The robot is used in various schools around the world, so you
know it’s educational. For older kids, consider buying Cue,
a similar but more advanced take on Dash with a slew of features
that appeal to tweens and teens.BUY ON AMAZON^[9][10]

Best For Star Wars Fans: BB-8 Sphero ($100)

Who doesn’t love BB-8? The beloved Star Wars robot is cute and
full of personality. The BB-8
Sphero^[11] captures some of
that magic, and gives your kids a cute robot companion of their
own.

The device has autonomous behavior so BB-8 will happily head out
on patrol on his own, checking out what’s going on around your
home. He’ll also happily watch Star Wars films with you, and react
accordingly.

He’s smart too. You can use character specific commands to
program him, learning a little about STEM subjects along the way.
There’s the option of controlling him via your smartphone or a
rather neat Force Band too, giving your kids plenty of control.
He’s cute and plucky — just like the film version.BUY ON AMAZON^[12]

Best For The Cute Factor: UBTECH JIMU Unicornbot ($120)

Robots are often cute but, well, they look like robots.
The UBTECH
JIMU Unicornbot^[13] looks like a
unicorn that was transformed Robocop style into a cyborg. Luckily,
he looks far happier than Robocop. Kids need to build the robot
themselves with 440 snap together pieces keeping them occupied for
much of Christmas morning.

Once constructed, it’s possible to use the unicorn’s many
sensors to program him to do many things. You can get his magical
horn to change color on command, or you can teach him to wander
around the room. It’s all done via Blockly coding so it’s pretty
intuitive. Even if your kids don’t remember much from their
programming lessons, who could resist the allure of a cute unicorn
roaming around?BUY ON AMAZON^[14]

Best For Alexa Support: Anki Vector ($250)

You name it, there’s Alexa support. Admittedly, the Anki
Vector^[15] doesn’t have Alexa
support just yet, but it’s coming soon. Regardless, it’s a pretty
powerful robot that’s keen to help out at every turn.

He’s voice-activated and answers questions as varied as what the
weather is to converting measurement units for you. He’ll take
photos, time dinner, and solve mathematical equations along the
way. As well as that, Anki Vector can independently navigate, head
back to base when he needs to charge up, as well as recognize
people and dodge obstacles. You can’t program him like with the
other robots, but he is a tiny glimpse into a future that could be
awesome or could all go a bit Terminator-ish.BUY ON AMAZON^[16]

Best For Advanced Robotics: Sphero ($150)

If your child is a little older, they’ll be less fussed about
how cute the robot is and more interested in what it can
do. Sphero^[17] is a good solution
here. It’s a robotic ball that can be programmed quite extensively.
With an 8×8 LED matrix, you can animate it and display real-time
data as you progress. There are also programmable sensors including
infrared, compass, light sensor, gyroscope, accelerometer, and
motor encoders. Impressively, it’s waterproof and durable too.

Powered via the Sphere Edu app, it’s possible to program it via
drawing, using Scratch blocks, or by writing Javascript, so it
caters for a variety of different skill levels. It might not be
cute, but it’s certainly powerful.

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