Toysmith, KidzRobotix Tin Can Robot, DIY Science Kits STEM Powered Kids, For Boys & Girls Ages 8+

This was a fun and easy way to spend a fun hour with my son.

My 5 year old son and I put this together. I had to do all the screws and bolts - they’re just too small for little fingers to handle. But, nonetheless, he was super excited about this project and enjoyed putting it together. It’s a good opportunity to sit down and do something with your child. It also helps to teach the importance of folllowing instructions properly and in the order in which they are given. My son has also enjoyed playing with it, and he is carrying it around everywhere! I read a review when I bought it that the instructions called for a short screw where a long screw should have gone. I did not find this to be the case. There is only one size of screw in the kit. The longer ones are not screws but bolts. The instructions clearly stated to use the bolts on the body rings and screws everywhere else. It took us about 20 minutes to put together. Good quality time! I will be buying more 4m products.

I purchased this toy to build with a 5 year old who currently has a fascination with robots, and it was a major hit! He loves it. His younger sister loves it. And after taking it to "Show and Tell" at school, he quickly discovered that his entire class loves it, evident by the fact that he heard the phrase "will you build me one" many, many times that day. The project was very easy to assemble, and contrary to many reviews I see here, I experienced no issues with "fragile, easily broken parts." (I'm writing this review 3 weeks after assembly, and the robot still looks mint, despite hours of play) Assembly took approximately 1 hour, but could have taken much less if I hadn't proceeded slowly to explain the how and why of things during the building process. Despite my overall positive experience with this toy, a couple of small issues slightly hurt the overall product -- 1) In the parts list section of the instructions, the 2 screw types are labeled incorrectly. This will become evident (and the problem resolves itself) as soon as you begin to use the screws, but the error did cause a few minutes of confusion during assembly. 2) The 2 bolts used to connect the arm brackets are simply too short. They may work if you grind the bracket slightly, or simply force the bolts enough to reach the nut, hoping to not break anything in the process, but luckily, I had screws in my "scrap parts container" that worked perfectly. To avoid unnecessary aggravation, I recommend visiting a hardware store and replacing the 4 bolts with bolts that are approximately 1/16 longer. This will cost a few cents extra, plus a trip to the hardware store, but will help ensure a much more positive experience with assembly. Overall, we enjoyed this toy enough to order another robot from the same company (different model). I had fun with this project, the child is still having fun with this project, and he learned quite a bit about motors, current, why a battery makes his toys move, and why adjusting the cams (feet) impact the movement types. I'd call that a major win, despite the minor annoyances.

Wasn’t sure about this one. Needed it for a school project for my 2nd grader. There were a lot of parts. But after following the directions and taking our time we got it together. After a couple alterations she turned it into a robotic dog. What a great kit!! A bit much for a child to build on their own. Needs parent participation.

This is the second one I purchased i will be getting these every year for all my grands.

While this is a cool toy, assembly is a bit of a problem. It was definitely not something my 8 year old grandson could put together on his own. It has many small screws and it's hard for little kids to get them in the right places and lined up properly. Also, the instructions are not written for a third grader. Parts of it were already assembled out of order, so it looks like I got one that was returned by a previous buyer that gave up. That said, all the parts were there and unbroken. I assembled it without help from my grandson. The screws that attach the battery case to the body were too short, so any pressure during assembly or operation and it falls off. After many mishaps with the battery case, I've decided I'm going to glue it on. While I'm looking for my super glue, my grandson is playing with it. The case is falling off, but he's still having fun.

Our grandsons (and us) have put together a number of kits from various manufacturers and this was by far one of the worst. The screws were very difficult to tighten. I had to pass the assembly over to my husband because he is stronger. The robot walked only some times - we found this was likely due to screws on the gear box not being fully tightened. After tightening screws again and switching the wires so the robot was horizontal rather than upright, it walked a bit better. I would not waste money on tis brand of kits again.

My 5 year old and I put this together today and had a GREAT time with it. She got it for Christmas and in the excitement lost the instructions and one of the connectors to hold the arm to the frame. We looked up a youtube video for the instructions and as there was no reading, she was able be the boss and do much of it herself. My job was tightening screws and peeling the adhesive off of eyeballs (which was really difficult!). We cut our own arm bracket out of a plastic blueberry box and it works just fine. We did have a problem with the axel slipping to the side when the can is standing - I think that we were missing a piece of the gear that holds it in place. We fixed this by putting a bit of leftover arm-straw between the rotating foot and the body, in case this happens to you. After building it my daughter carried it everywhere all day, showing it off to everyone and making it wobbly around. She's super proud and was able to learn some basics like why wires are insulated, how a circuit works, how to put things together without a drop of glue and best of all, how to improvise. If you're looking for a toy for your kid to do on his/her own, this might not be the one (go for a magic sand kit) but if you want to spend some time together building something, go for this great STEM set!