What are Robotic Toys?

Robotic toys are battery operated devices (usually re-chargeable) that work independently of a computer. There are different robotic toys on the market but they all do essentially the same things. They are programmed with LOGO-like commands that are simple enough for even the youngest children to use successfully. Pupils press buttons on a keypad or control panel either on a handset or directly on the robotic toy to enter the commands. Robotic toys move forward and back, turn left and right, wait and make sounds. To enter an instruction the pupils have to either count and press the keys a certain number of times, or press an instruction key followed by a number key. This tells the robot how far to move, how much to turn, how long to wait and what sound (if any) to make.

The teacher and pupils can decide how the robotic toy should look, as covers can be made to turn the robot into a character or vehicle that supports the current theme or topic. For example, an animal, an insect, a storybook character, a vehicle such as a bus, a taxi, or a delivery van etc.

A robotic toy is a device with which pupils may not only explore aspects of robotics, but also support a wide range of activities that stimulate imaginative play, language development, co-operative work, mathematical development, physical development and exploration and knowledge of the world in which they live.

It is worth pointing out that robotic toys are particularly useful to support mathematical themes/topics where the notion of number, direction and shape are explored. A number line is an excellent teaching aid when children are learning to count, recognise numbers, add, subtract etc. A robotic toy can be used as part of this process to reinforce - eg. 2 + 2 = 4 etc. Pupils will have opportunities for problem solving as they try to send the robotic toy to the red circle, the corner shop or the large teddy bear etc.

Literacy skills developed could involve the organisation of thoughts through sending the robotic toy to a simple sequence of pictures, models etc. to re-tell a story. The key pad commands will need to be entered in the correct sequence to control the robotic toys movements, whether it be a single step at a time or by entering a simple sequence of commands together. Language development is encouraged through pupils working together to send the robotic toy on a journey, or talking to the teacher/other pupils about what they did. Pupils can be encouraged to respond to questions of the nature: "What would happen if…?"

Examples of using Robotic Toys:

Pupils enter direct commands to:

• send the robotic toy on a random journey to familiarise themselves with using the keypad
• send the robotic toy to a friend, through trial and error they could talk about needing a bigger or smaller number and begin to predict distance
• send the robotic toy on a planned journey - eg. to the large yellow teddy bear or the small blue teddy bear etc.
• use a number line to explore number bonds to ten, or 'counting on' and 'counting back' to aid addition and subtraction skills
• send a dressed robotic toy to re-tell a story - eg. dressed as a wolf the robotic toy could visit the houses of the three little pigs in the correct sequence
• draw lines and shapes on a large sheet of paper
• work out a sequence of instructions, in order to record in pictorial format the journey - eg. to the red circle, the blue square or the yellow triangle etc.
• knock down skittles to identify - eg. colours, shapes or add up the numbers on the fallen skittles etc.
• avoid obstacles placed in the path of the robotic toy

Classroom Strategies for Robotic Toys