Little Passports is a subscription box that helps kids explore the world through fun and educational activities. They offer Early Explorers (recommended ages 3-5), World Edition (recommended ages 6-10), USA Edition (recommended ages 7-12), Science Junior (recommended ages 5-8) and, Science Expeditions (recommended ages 9+). Along with monthly subscription options, Little Passports also offers "Individual Activity Kits" that can be ordered along with any subscription at the time of purchase.
This review is of the Little Passports "Create Your Own Robot Activity Kit" which can be purchased by itself or in addition to a subscription for $28.99 + free shipping.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About This Little Passports Add-On Box
The Add-On Box: Little Passports "Create Your Own Robot" Individual Activity Kit
The Cost: $28.99 + free shipping
The Products: All necessary materials to create your very own robot, along with an instruction guide, and a full-color magazine.
Ships to: U.S. for $3.00, Canada for $4.50, and Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, and the U.K. Find more international shipping info here!
Little Passports "Create Your Own Robot" Individual Activity Kit Review
Winter is a long season here in Minnesota, and while we definitely enjoy more than our fair share of outdoor activities, the shortened days and decreasing temperatures have me looking to indoor activities that can be done by the fireplace. These Little Passport kits are perfect for kids of varying ages (the robot kit is suggested for kids 5+) and are not only fun – but educational! Charlie actually just created his very own cardboard robot costume and has a killer robot voice, so he was all about this kit. Read below to see how it turned out.
Little Passports Robots Comic and Instruction Guide
The first item out of this month's box was a beautifully illustrated robot guide. This booklet not only included a really cool comic, but also a "Meet the Scientist" section, robot-building instructions, and activity pages. We spent quite a bit of time immersed in this guide and really enjoyed every aspect. The building instructions for the robot were easy to follow and well written. After reading this material, my 5-year-old was able to name 6 different types of simple machines and learned some really cool info about robotics and computer science... pretty impressive if you ask me!
Charlie is an emergent reader, so I had to read most of it to him. After reading through it once, we turned the comic into a sight word scavenger hunt which added another educational element though! He loves doing activity pages, so finding the droid differences was a fun addition for him.
Robot Collector Cards
Another component of this box were these neat robot cards. Made from cardstock, each card features a different type of robot with a description summarized on the back. I am a fan of the alternative way they presented this information, as the cards are fun to look at, easy to hold in your hand, and just plain different. Charlie was all about toting these around in his pocket!
Robot Stickers
We are sticker obsessed in this household so more are always welcome. We have a giant box that we keep all of our stickers in, but Charlie deemed these too cool for the box and has placed them on his nightstand for the time being. He did mention decorating some future thank-you notes with these though, so only time will tell. This medium-sized sheet includes words like "robotics" and "engineering" while also depicting some really cute robots. We love 'em!
Robot Punch Out
Here we have our robot pieces. Each piece was printed on each side of thick cardboard. It was easy to punch out, and was very detailed!
Solar Powered Motor
When Charlie saw this motor, he was soooo excited. What 5-year-old wouldn't love to spread the word that they built a solar-powered robot all by themselves?! This small solar panel featured a sticky pad on the back to adhere to the robot, with a small motor to help our robot move.
Markers
Because part of our activity was to have the robot create a picture for us, we couldn't do that without markers! We received one blue and one green marker with clear caps. The markers fit in the robot's arms (a little on the snug side) to draw us a picture. Read below to see how it turned out.
Assembling the Robot
Like I said above, the instructions were fantastic at telling us where to place our pieces and exactly what to do to create our robot. Charlie is 5, and he was able to do this pretty much all by himself. The hardest part of creating this little guy was getting the markers in the arms. I understand they didn't want the holes too big so the markers wouldn't fall through, but I myself even had a hard time jamming them in! We tried 2 methods of solar powering, one being the sun (which worked but then of course it went under a cloud) and then the light of a flashlight. It was really fun to see the robot vibrate and spin to create quite the work of art! Charlie thought this was great, and we now have a gallery of robot creations hanging on our fridge!
Game Board
The second project we received this month was a coding game with robot pawns. The board was of decent size and created with thick cardstock, featuring a storage envelope on the back.
Game Pieces
Also included were cardstock game pieces: two robot pawns and directional cues to play the game.
Playing "Robot Game"
The object of the game is to collect the most points by moving your game piece across the board collecting disks. You draw program cards that tell you the direction to move in (left, forward, back, and right) and scoot across the board in a coding-like manner. This game was simple, yet fun, and was actually perfect as Charlie has been working really hard to learn the difference between left and right.
Verdict: This is the second kit that I have received from Little Passports, and they have been really neat! The Create Your Own Robot kit made for a really fun afternoon! As we are in the midst of Distance Learning I am all about screen-free supplemental materials for my kids. The robot itself was fun and easy to create giving us a background in robotics and solar-power. The game was simple to play, yet taught us about coding and basic directions, which was a huge bonus for Charlie. This kit costs $28.99 + free shipping, and while that does seem a bit steep for cardboard pieces, I feel the entertainment value, coupled with the educational aspect was worth it to my son and I. We can't wait to check out the other activity kits they offer!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes, this kit, along with nine others are available to add-on to your subscription.
Check out all of our Little Passports reviews and the Kids Subscription Box Directory!
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