Tips for Picking a Robot Project for Students

Robotics is certainly one of the most fun subjects to learn in school, as students can get hands-on experience on how to build and control small robots. However, it is also one of the hardest subjects to teach since students may struggle to create their own robots if they don’t have sufficient knowledge about them. 

Luckily, through the advancements in technology, there are dozens of robot-making kits that are now available in toy stores and online shops, although picking one for your students can be challenging since you don’t know which one they can build the easiest and fastest. To help you make a decision on which robot project to do with your students, we are here to provide you with some simple tips on how to choose the most suitable robot projects and kits for the class. So, let us already get started and discuss some tips for picking a robot project for students.

Do Some Research

The first and most important tip that we will give you is to do some research on what robot projects are suitable for the age of your students. Kids that are seven years old or below may have a hard time building complex robots, so make sure that you get them a robot kit that is simple and easy to build. For children that are eight years old and above, they can have better enjoyment of robot kits that can give them a bit of a challenge, but you can assign them into groups so that they can also learn teamwork while building the robot.

Build the Robots on Your Own First

In order for you to teach them how to build a robot properly, you would need to build the robot kit you will assign on your own first. If you find the robot kit to be challenging to build, then it may not be suitable for children. Find robot projects that you as a teacher can build effortlessly so that children won’t get frustrated in building those kits as well. The key to having a successful robot project in class is for the students to enjoy the activity.

Find Out What They Like

To make it more fun and easy for students to build robots, you can ask them what type of robot they like to build. There are some that may like robots that can swim in the water, while there are a few that may want to build a robot that has wheels. You can create a survey and gather their answers to see which type of robot project most of your students would like to build in class. For them to have a better idea of what to vote for, you can show them videos of the robot kits or projects you would like them to build. Like many other polls and surveys, the item or robot kit with the most votes wins and will be built in class.

Show Them Instructional Videos for Robot Kits

robot kit

Seeing how the robots are made is much easier for students to understand instead of just reading and following the manual. If there are videos on YouTube about the robot kits that you will assign to your students, it would be best to show them to the kids so that they can have a clearer idea of how to build the robots. In addition, you can also send their parents a copy of the videos so that their children can have easy access to the videos at home. If instructional videos are not available, you can show the class how to build the robot kits, or you can record an instructional video yourself.

Form Groups for Easy Building

As we have said earlier, it is great if you can assign them into groups so that they will always have a helping hand while building the robot kits. In addition, they can also learn proper teamwork and communication skills since they would need to work together in order to build the robots faster and without any hiccups. Once they get the hang of building robots, you can assign them to solo projects to see if they can handle the robot kits on their own. Building a robot kit alone greatly enhances their decision-making skills and their creativeness since they are free to build the robot in their own unique way.

These are the five simplest tips that we can give to pick the best robot project for your students. Before you can assign a specific robot kit in class, remember to take time to do some research about that specific kit first to know if it is suitable and fun to build for children. Getting them to enjoy building robots may inspire them to make it a hobby that can help boost their creative thinking and programming skills, which they can use in the future.