Thames And Kosmos Robot Factory Review

Reviewed by Helen O

The Robot Factory arrived really quickly and was well packaged in an outer cardboard box, so upon opening the item was pristine and packaging was fully recycled. First impressions of this item was that I really liked the packaging – it was informative, such as number of pieces (117), what they looked like and that you can build 8 different motorized robots (not all at the same time!) all of which were pictured on the back of the pack, so you know exactly what you’re getting. The robots available to build include; Ski-Bot, Drill-Bot, Stomp-Bot and Boxer-Bot.

The pack also contains a read-along adventure, which doubles as an instruction manual. I liked this part, as it helped to bring some personality to the ‘wacky, misfit, rogue’ robots. The premise of the story is that the Omega family, fix up and put the robots back to working order.

The product is marketed as a STEM experiment kit, so is perfect for children who are interested in developing their science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills. Each of the robots moves their arms of legs in a different way and helps children learn about how simple mechanical systems work. The instruction manual uses pictures, rather than words to explain how to build the robots, which is beneficial for the intended audience (age 5-7). My son is coming up 5 years old, but my husband lead on the build, as he got a little confused as to which bit went where. I would think the kit would be more suited to the higher end of the age bracket, so that they could build the robots themselves, rather than assist and get a greater sense of achievement. Although he did enjoy sticking the stickers on in the relevant places, to bring the robot body and eyes to life, which he did after the build was complete.

My husband and son took approximately 1 hour to build the Walker-Bot, but I would imagine that any subsequent robots would take a little less time, now they are familiar with the kit. My son was really excited to get his hands on the finished robot and see it move across the floor (it needs to be used on a flat surface). The legs had a tendency to stick together when it was on the table and needed a little nudge to get it going again. I think it’s quite temperamental if you don’t align the pieces quite right. Looking at the other robots, they don’t seem to have legs which are likely to intertwine, so I suspect that they’ll move more freely. My son is keen to test this out!

The kit requires 2 x AA batteries for the motor, which aren’t included in the pack, but other than that everything else is included, even a little tool to help take the robots apart easily.

The cost of the Robot Factory kit is RRP £28, which I think is pretty good value for money, considering the build possibilities and the fact that you can keep re-building and includes motorized parts etc. I think that the kit would be a great Christmas gift idea. I can also see a place for this kit in primary schools, when educating kids in basic STEM principles and they could build as a group activity with their peers.

My son really enjoyed the Robot Factory, despite playing more of an assisting role, rather than being lightly supervised by his dad. I think the kit is great, my main issue is the age of the intended audience.

Thames & Kosmos offer a variety of STEM kits marketed as ‘Kids First’, from age 3+. I’ve not tried any of these, but they are available on the Thames & Kosmos website.

Rating: 4 out of 5

RRP: £28

Buy here.