Stick around.
One of the stand-out
products from our trip to the London Toy Fair 2017 was Thames and
Kosmos' Geckobot (and highly recommended by Toyologist Peter Jenkinson). We've finally managed to get our hands on one of the
walking, climbing, STEM model kits, and here is what we make of it.
The set contains 176
parts which need to be assembled, as with most construction toys of
this kind. The parts for the Geckobot bare a resemblance to LEGO
Technic, being mostly multi-hole girders held together with pins. The
parts all fit together very well and there wasn't any misshapen or
missing bits.
What there was, was a
challenging build. The set is aimed at ages eight and above, but
parents should be aware they might be called in to lend a hand.
Fortunately the full-colour instruction book gives precise and clear
directions, but there are a lot of pins and gears that need to be
correctly placed first time round, or you'll be dismantling most of
the model to fix an error.
It took us (adults)
about an hour to complete, which included having to cut the rubber
hose to the required lengths. Once assembled the Geckobot needs a
couple AAA batteries thrown in there, and then you can hit the power
switch and watch it climb.
This is the truly
clever bit. As we saw previously at The Toy Fair, The Geckobot can
climb up any smooth surface such as windows and whiteboards. Doing so
is quite a thing to behold, as it walks upwards with each suction cup
sticking and then releasing at precisely the right time. Bearing in
mind that the motion is coming from just one spinning motor is
impressive, and it's great to see how the valves, pumps, and legs are
all driven at different times.
And it just keeps on
going. We could only test it on a seven foot patio door, but it would
be fun to set this thing climbing up the side of The Shard or another
totally glass skyscraper, just to see how far it could go. As we're
based in York, the biggest windows we have are 13th
century stained glass ones on York Minster, which they're a bit
precious about. Boo. But still – PR stunt for you there, Thames and
Kosmos.
There is a lot of extra
value here, too. The Geckobot can be disassembled and rebuilt into
seven other creations, all of which use the motorised functions and
suction cups to demonstrate the processes in different ways. The
manual also goes into detail about what is going on when a suction
cup sticks to something, and invites the kids to make observations
and tinker with the designs, which other famous construction toy kits
tend not to.
Tonnes of fun and
fascinating to watch in action, the Thames and Kosmos Geckobot is a
STEM toy delivered in the best and most engaging way. Go get it.
£34.99
Available from www.amazon.co.uk
