Lego robot / coding kits for 9yo...?

[WindyCommon]

My 9yo likes building stuff, and coding. He is surprisingly competent at both - particularly coding which he just seems to “get” intuitively.

I’ve been looking at sets that combine the two activities. Does anyone here have experience of the Lego Boost Creative 17101 set, or the Lego 31313 Mindstorms EV3 set? My initial concern is that the 17101 might be too easy (aimed at 7-12yo) and the 31313 too hard (aimed at 10yo+). The coding is as important - if not more important - than the building.

https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Creative-Toolbox-17101

https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/LEGO-MINDSTORMS-EV3-31...

In the usual PH way, I’m be very interested to hear comments from anyone with experience. Especially if you have similar kids..!

Thanks in advance.

[alorotom]

No experience of the Lego coding sets but I do have a Sphero Edu which is awesome and the Edu model and app have full coding structures from basics drag and drop (my level) through to wrtiting and developing your own - only about £100 too

[sgrimshaw]

You can do some basic stuff with Mindstorms, he might need a bit of Dad's help to start with.

I've used Mindstorms and it's as technical as you want to make it ... has huge potential.

Saw the Boost on Lego Masters and it look very much more "toy-like" ... given your comments on current ability etc, I'd think he'd grow out of it very quickly.

Additional plus with Mindstorms is that there are plenty of bits and pieces available on ebay for when he wants to add motors, sensors etc.

[C0ffin D0dger]

I'll be able to report after Christmas, which probably doesn't help you much. Bought my 7 year old a Lego Boost set for Christmas along with a Ninjago dragon that you can hook it up to. The reviews seem favourable.

Coolest thing I've seen done with Mindstorms is a Rubik's Cube solver. It scans each side and then sets out rotating it until it's done. So yeah I think Boost for the younger kids, Mindstorms for older kids as you can do a lot more with it.

[MrBig]

My 6 year old had the Boost kit for last Christmas. It has been perfect as a starting found for learning the basics of how coding works, but I suspect to simple for what you are looking for. All the coding is just a series of tasks/responses as symbols and then they can be organised into sequences in the app. Great for understanding the foundations, but I think you probably need the next level up with Mindstorms.

[The teacher]

I am a teacher and use WeDo (similar to Boost) with 5-8 year old and EV3 with 8-11.

I'd recommend EV3. It is relatively straightforward but can get very complex if required.

Jon

[sgrimshaw]

C0ffin D0dger said:

Coolest thing I've seen done with Mindstorms is a Rubik's Cube solver. It scans each side and then sets out rotating it until it's done.

See what you make out of this

https://youtu.be/6xCd55oSgO4

[C0ffin D0dger]

sgrimshaw said:

See what you make out of this

https://youtu.be/6xCd55oSgO4

Very silly and cool at the same time