Wonder Workshop Cue Coding Robot is fun and teaches my kids STEM skills

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Add the Sketch Kit to the Cue Coding Robot to program
the bot to draw.
Amazon

• Toy companies are trying to keep up with the consumer
  demand for products that are both fun and educational.
• With their Dot, Dash, and Cue robots, Wonder
  Workshop has positioned itself as one of the top names in
  STEM learning toys.
• I especially liked that the Cue Coding Robot has a vast array
  of activities that kids can keep coming back to as they develop
  their tech skills.
• Though the Wonder Workshop Cue Coding Robot is expensive for
  a toy (currently $179 on Amazon), it’s durably built and
  has enough tasks and missions to keep your child engaged for
  countless hours.

Growing up, I remember spending
long hours building houses with Lincoln Logs, Legos, and other
building materials. I enjoyed the endless customization
possibilities. Today, my kids still like their building blocks,
but with the Information Age, screens are becoming a bigger draw.
Fortunately, there are STEM learning toys that teach
children to build in whole new ways that past generations could
never dream of.

My sons, Jerome (15 years old)
and Bucky (4 years old), love anything tech related. And both
have experience with a variety of STEM learning tools. After
seeing our review of the

LittleBits Star Wars Droid Inventor
Kit

, Wonder Workshop
wanted us to test out its Cue Coding Robot for free.
Below is our experience with it.

My first experiences with the Cue Coding Robot

As soon as Cue was out of the
box, the boys started having fun with it. This device is designed
for ages 10 to 15, and I think my boys are just outside of the
right age range. Bucky isn’t able to read so he needed help using
the robot. And, Jerome enjoyed it for a little bit, but it
couldn’t compete with video games and girls.

There are several
accessories
 you
can get to go with Cue, including the Sketch
Kit
, which we got to
test out. The kit allows your child to mount a dry erase marker
to the Cue and use the app to draw free form or preprogrammed
shapes. There are activity cards that challenge your young one to
mimic patterns.

You don’t need any of these
accessories to get going, though. You just need to charge the
robot and have a Bluetooth-enabled device that supports
the

Cue by Wonder Workshop
app

. Right now, it
works with iOS, Android, Chromebook, and Windows 10 systems. We
tried the robot on Android and Windows 10. We could download the
app to our Kindle Fire, but it appears the app won’t be
functional until later this month.

How the Cue Coding Robot performed

Jerome played with Cue
nonstop for about three hours after we unboxed it. Bucky was in
tow the whole time begging for his chance to play with it. And,
they did play together a little bit, but the functions Jerome was
interested in were over his brother’s head. Eventually, the
battery needed to be charged, and Jerome never revisited the
robot. However, Bucky was just getting started.

There are virtually limitless
ways to enjoy Cue:

• Missions
  —
  Broken up into Alien Contact, Treasure Hunt, and Hack3r Hijack,
  there are nine games within each mission that test your child’s
  logic, math, and language skills.
• Chat
  — In
  chat, your child can basically text with the robot, who says
  funny jokes, shares memes, and makes witty comments.
• Code —
  There
  are a few different ways to code, including blocks and
  JavaScript text.
• Control —
  There are three intelligent auto modes:
  explore, avoid, and seek. You can also move Cue around using a
  virtual joystick, kind of like a remote-control car.
• Create —
  Cue
  has an accelerometer, gyro, encoders, proximity sensors, and
  more that can be used to create adventures.

There are also four avatars with
distinct personalities to choose from.

With a background in STEM and
robotics, Jerome knew exactly what to do with Cue.
I needed a little more help. Fortunately, there are detailed
step-by-step tutorials that helped me up the learning
curve.

One of the things I look for in
any toy is if it will keep my child entertained for hours without
help from me. Cue could do that at times. Bucky really enjoyed
recording his voice and getting Cue to say what he recorded. He
also liked it when I worked with him on missions. The missions
and coding were challenging.

I really like that as Bucky gets
older, he’ll continue to get more and more out of Cue. This is a
toy that just keeps giving.

We’ve had Cue for over two months
now, and Bucky still comes to me to ask if he can play with it at
least once a week. We’ve had to limit his playing at times
because he’d try to see if he could destroy the robot by sending
it down our hardwood stairs. Cue has done an impressive job of
not breaking down.

Some concerns about the robot

My biggest issue with Cue
was trying to code on my Android phone. The screen only affords
so much space, and it was hard to drag and drop items with
limited room. This process was a lot easier using my PC, but the
phone had a lot more functionality. Plus, it allowed me to be
more mobile. If your child has access to an iPad or
Bluetooth-enabled Chromebook, they may find the coding to be less
tedious.

The Bluetooth range is relatively
short. If you’re in the same room as Cue, then you shouldn’t have
a problem. But, if you’re trying to pull a prank on your kids
from elsewhere in the house, you’ll likely have issues because of
the limited range.

Lastly, if you are trying to cut
down on your child’s screen time, Cue is not a good option since
they must use a Bluetooth-enabled device in order to play with
it. However, the screen time really is education, and it takes
them away from video games or the crap on YouTube.

Bottom line

A great STEM toy will teach your
child, is fun, and has a wealth of programs, missions, and other
tasks that will keep them coming back for more. The Cue Coding
Robot exhibits all of these features.

Though the recommended age range
is 10 to 15 years old, I strongly believe it can serve as an
excellent learning tool for kids under 10 as well. And, for the
years of entertainment it will provide, the $179 price tag for
the Wonder Workshop Cue Coding Robot is relatively
affordable.

Buy the Wonder Workshop Cue Coding Robot on Amazon for
$179

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