Thank you to Learning Resources for providing me with product, free of charge, in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions shared are my own.

With school winding down for the year, and summer upon us, I am busy looking for ways to keep my soon-to-be kindergartener engaged in learning through the summer months. Before B started preschool, we did our own preschool lessons at our own pace at home. I follow the same sort of model during the summertime. B will go to summer play group at his school for five weeks this summer, and the rest of the summer, we'll either be traveling or he'll be home with me and his baby sister. Having educational lessons and activities planned is important to me. I want B to continue the learning at home through the summer months, so he'll be ready to hit the ground running when kindergarten begins this fall.

Learning Resources has tons of wonderful educational toys and games for kids of all ages. We were given the opportunity to explore one of their fabulous S.T.E.M. activities for kids ages 5+. B really loves math and problem solving, so this was going to be a great activity for him to try out, and enjoy through the summer months.

Learning Resources® is a leading global manufacturer of innovative, hands-on educational products trusted by teachers and parents and loved by children. The Company's 1100+ high-quality products are sold in more than 80 countries, serving children and their families, preschool, kindergarten, primary, and middle-school markets. Among the Company's brands are Pretend & Play®, Smart Snacks®, New Sprouts™, Gears! Gears! Gears!®, Primary Science, now!Board™, simple technology, Hands-On Standards® publications, Rainbow Fractions® and Reading Rods®. Learning Resources is headquartered in Vernon Hills, IL, with a European office based in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England.

B was excited to see this colorful box, and couldn't wait to open it up and check it out!

We received the S.T.E.M. Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set. This product is new for 2016, and is perfect to play with at home, or to use in the classroom. If your kids love mazes like my son does, this activity will be a fun challenge for them to explore and enjoy.

The packaging contains clear, bright images of the activity set in use. Seeing all of the components laid out like this really excited B.

The activity set was well packaged, and included instructions for the grown ups.

The S.T.E.M. Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set came with lots of pieces, which included green boards (click together), maze walls, tunnels, the programmable robotic mouse, and coding cards. B was interested in using the boards right away. He loves to build mazes and tracks, and once we figured out that the board just slide into one another (they connect), B was building every which way! The neat thing is that you can connect all of the boards together to make one giant board, or you can use them piece by piece to build an intricate maze.

B is figuring out how the activity boards fit together, and designing his own patterned maze.

The Robotic Mouse is anxiously waiting to be programmed by B so it can follow the maze to find the cheese!

The little blue mouse is battery operated. It takes 3 AAA batteries, which are not included in this set. It was a good thing we had batteries on hand at home, or B would have been very disappointed! To program the mouse, use the coding cards, and the directional buttons on the mouse. Press the little buttons in the correct order to have the mouse follow the maze to get to the cheese.

B took his time figuring out just the right way for his maze to look for the first run through the maze.

PS- there is no right or wrong way for kids to build the maze- using their imaginations, they can build it any way they choose! Take it apart and put it back together again, over and over again for endless coding fun!

B began using the purple maze walls and orange tunnels to add even more fun to this activity!

He hit a few roadblocks along the way, and eventually figured out how to sort the maze walls and then program the mouse using the coding cards.

Pieces scattered all about the dining room, ready to start over again.

We have been having so much fun with the Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set. It's not something that I would have thought to look into purchasing for my son, but I am so glad that we've had the opportunity to play with it. B is learning a lot about creating patterns, and coding! It's way more fun than I imagined it would be, and he's exercising his mind while he plays.

What is S.T.E.M.?

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education.



Features of the Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set

The race is on to build hands-on coding skills! Build your maze, and then use the coding cards to create a step-by-step path for Colby, the Programmable Robot Mouse. Program the sequence of steps, and then watch Colby race to find the cheese! This deluxe set includes 30 double-sided coding cards, 10 double-sided activity cards, cheese wedge, and Activity Guide to provide the perfect hands-on introduction to coding concepts. Create your path with 16 maze grids to create a 20" x 20" maze board, 22 maze walls, and 3 tunnels for endless possibilities. Colby lights-up, makes sounds, and features 2 speeds along with colorful buttons to match coding cards for easy programming and sequencing. Add multiple players with Jack, the Programmable Robot Mouse (LER 2841), sold separately. Colby measures 4"L and requires 3 AAA batteries (not included).
$59.99

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Special thanks to Learning Resources for allowing us to share about their wonderful educational products.