Which LEGO robot kit is best?

LEGO has been making childhood toys for more than 50 years and now even offer kits that allow your child to build a robot. These sets encourage young kids to explore and get excited about STEM. LEGO robot kits are great gifts that combine fun with learning to build, code and program. They come in variations designed for every age and skill level. If you or your child wants to build a fully functional intelligent robot that walks, talks, plays games and completes many different tasks, try the LEGO Mindstorm EV3 31313 Robot Kit.

What to know before you buy a LEGO robot kit

Start by choosing one of two main types of robot kits: model robots or programmable robots.

Model robot kits

Models look like robots but are not functional.
Models are not programmable.
Some models have moving parts, but they don’t have motors or the ability to move on their own.
Model robot kits come in many popular LEGO themes, like Star Wars, Ninjago, Ideas and Creator.

Programmable robot kits

Programmable robots come with motors and sensors.
Robots can move independently and perform a variety of tasks that you program.
You program the robot you built yourself through a mobile app or a computer program for Macs or PCs.
Robot kits come in one of two LEGO themes: Mindstorms and Boost.

What to look for in a quality LEGO robot kit

Level of detail

The greater the detail involved, the more time and effort required to build the robot. Programmable robot kits will always be more detailed than model robot kits. Look for two key indicators: the number of pieces included and the suggested age range. More detailed and complicated kits will have at least 500 separate pieces. Robot kits with high levels of detail will require tools to assemble and will also be more expensive.

Power

Small programmable robot kits have one motor while larger and more detailed robot kits will have two or even three motors. High-tech add-ons like transmitters and sensors have electrical components that need more than one motor to operate properly.

Apps and controllers

LEGO’s EV3 Programming App: This app uses intuitive on-screen icons as a simple and effective way to get started programming and coding. The Help documentation explains how to connect your EV3 Brick to your computer source, navigate the programming blocks, write a basic program and run it on your EV3 Brick Controller.
LEGO’s EV3 Brick Controller: This is a brick-shaped, intelligent and programmable control center and power station for your robot. It is powered by six AA/LR6 batteries and has 10 ports to connect computers with motors, sensors and beacons to tell your robot what to do. Using LEGO software, you create, program and play with the robot you built with your own hands.

How much you can expect to spend on a LEGO robot kit

You will find simple model kits for $15-$25 and more detailed ones for $100 or more. Programmable model kits start at around $150 and increase in cost as you add pieces, motors, sensors and possibilities.

LEGO robot kit FAQ

Will my child learn to code with a LEGO robot kit?

A. Yes, on two different levels. LEGO Boost kits teach younger kids the basic rules of programming through the use of drag-and-drop icons. Those who choose LEGO Mindstorm kits learn how to code by writing their own programs using more complex processes.

Are LEGO robot kits just for kids?

A. Anyone can have fun with a LEGO robot kit. If you enjoy technology, try using a more complex model. If you’re new to coding, a simpler kit is a good start.

What’s the best LEGO robot kit to buy?

Top LEGO robot kit

LEGO Mindstorm EV3 31313 Robot Kit

What you need to know: This fully functional intelligent robot kit allows you to create five different robots that walk, talk and play games.

What you’ll love: Builders of all ages will enjoy creating and commanding their own 16- by 15- by 14-inch robot with this 601-piece kit. It includes the intelligent EV3 Brick, three motors and color, touch and infrared sensors.

What you should consider: This is a pricey robot that requires some technical and programming skills.

Worth checking out

LEGO Star Wars VIII BB-8 75187 Building Kit

What you need to know: This Star Wars droid has more than 1,100 parts and is designed for kids 10 to 16.

What you’ll love: The detailing is authentic. Turn one wheel at the side to rotate the head and another to open the access hatch and extend the welding torch. It also comes with a display stand, decorative fact plaque and mini-figure.

What you should consider: This kit is expensive for a model that can’t be programmed.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

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Which LEGO Juniors set is best?

LEGO makes some of the world’s most popular toys. For children ages 4-7, LEGO Juniors is the perfect introduction to big-time LEGO building. Juniors sets contain quick-start elements and numbered, prepacked bags that can be built without the help of adults. If you are looking for a LEGO Junior/LEGO 4+ set for kids who love airplanes, the LEGO Juniors City Central Airport 10764 set has an airliner with two pilots, a terminal and two baggage handlers loading luggage from a conveyor belt to a baggage cart.

What to know before you buy a LEGO Juniors set

The LEGO Juniors line of products was retired in 2019

The LEGO Juniors brand was focused on a targeted age group, not on a single style or area of interest. The Juniors brand was retired in favor of package labels that say this playset is suitable for kids ages 4 and up. Don’t be confused when you don’t see a Juniors section on the LEGO website or a Juniors label on the box. Everything you need to know about LEGO Juniors sets can be found under its new name: LEGO 4+.

LEGO 4+ sets

All LEGO 4+ sets are created around stories, themes and characters younger kids already love, from princesses and superheroes to dinosaurs and teenage role models.

LEGO 4+ sets are sorted, packaged and labeled to make the building experience easy for kids as young as age 4. Parents and children love the digital interactive guide, LEGO Instructions Plus, which is a part of the free LEGO Life app. You can zoom, rotate and view your model in 3D and ghost view modes to see how far you’ve come and where you are in the building process. This app also keeps track of complex builds and saves your building steps online, so you can recycle instruction books.

What to look for in a quality LEGO Juniors/4+ set

Start by choosing a broad category, then explore the subcategories within the overall theme.

Superheroes

This LEGO Juniors series features Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and many more superhero pals that kids take on daring missions to defeat supervillains so good triumphs over evil. Kids can recreate scenes from movies or create their own adventures with mini-sized action figures, weapons, gadgets, vehicles and buildings.

Friends

This series is built around the lives of teenage role models Andrea, Emma, Mia, Olivia and Stephanie. These mini-dolls live in the fictional town of Heartlake City and have their own personalities, interests and storylines that intertwine in their lives. All stories have happy endings that involve working together to help others.

City

These LEGO Juniors sets focus on activities that are going on in the fictional LEGO City every day. Buildings are under construction, people are flying in and out of the airport and coming and going in cars, trains and buses. Police and rescue crews respond to emergencies. This popular series split into dozens of wildly diverging subthemes like Harbor, Jungle, Mining, Farm, Arctic and Volcano.

Space

The sets in this series include both fantasy and real-world space interests. On the one hand, you can get sets based on starships, light cruisers, starfighters, the Millenium Falcon, Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing Fighter, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse’s Space Rocket and R2-D2. Real-world space-based sets include NASA space shuttles, Apollo lunar landers, the International Space Station and more.

How much you can expect to spend on a LEGO Juniors/4+ set

Most LEGO Junior and LEGO 4+ sets cost between $20-$50. For $20 or less, you can find smaller and simpler sets. LEGO Junior and LEGO 4+ sets over $50 have the most pieces and are the most elaborate and challenging.

LEGO Juniors set FAQ

What’s the difference between LEGO Juniors sets and regular LEGO sets?

A. LEGO Juniors sets have slightly bigger pieces, fewer pieces per set and less complex designs that are simpler to build.

Wasn’t the LEGO Juniors line of products retired in 2019?

A. Yes, but there are still plenty of them around to choose from. Most kids like to play with them, while some treat them as collector items.

What’s the best LEGO Juniors set to buy?

Top LEGO Juniors set

LEGO Juniors City Central Airport 10764

What you need to know: This discontinued set is for kids ages 4 and older who have an interest in airplanes and flying.

What you’ll love: The planes pull up to the airport terminal, and the baggage handlers unload the passengers’ luggage from the conveyor belt to the baggage cart. This set includes five mini-dolls: two pilots, two airport workers and a tourist. This 376-piece starter set can be connected to all other LEGO bricks and construction toys.

What you should consider: This set is a little pricey for some.

Top LEGO Juniors set for the money

LEGO Juniors Jurassic World Pteranodon Escape 10756

What you need to know: This 84-piece LEGO set is made for kids who love prehistoric creatures.

What you’ll love: A Jurassic World pilot and tracker go dinosaur hunting for a flying pteranodon in their helicopter with an actual spinning rotor, while avoiding an erupting volcano. The pteranodon has a 7-inch wingspan.

What you should consider: This set requires the skills of kids who have assembled LEGO sets before.

Worth checking out

LEGO Juniors Mia’s Organic Food Market 10749

What you need to know: Fans of LEGO Friends will have fun building Mia’s mobile food market truck.

What you’ll love: Mia’s food truck has a rotating sign, a side that opens up and wheels that roll. Around the truck, Mia and bunny friend Twister have a picnic table and chairs, a box of vegetables and a merry-go-round that actually spins.

What you should consider: Kids can do a lot with just 115 pieces.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

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BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.

The Minnesota Wild had a new defenseman make his debut in red and green last weekend, and hardly anyone noticed. Seriously.

Amid all of the much-deserved hype about Quinn Hughes coming to Minnesota and taking his place on the Wild blue line, the local NHL club also welcomed Matt Kiersted back to his home state for his first game on the rink where every local kid dreams of playing.

“There was a lot going on, but it was pretty cool,” Kiersted said on Tuesday, reflecting on his time as a youth hockey player in Elk River. “Being from Minnesota, I grew up watching the Wild. To actually get into a game, to get to play for them in the regular season is pretty special.”

With regular defensemen Jonas Brodin, Jake Middleton and now Zach Bogosian all missing due to injury, and Zeev Buium now playing for Vancouver, Kiersted was back on the ice at Grand Casino Arena on Tuesday versus the Capitals.

While he never made it to St. Paul on a state tournament team, he had played at the Wild’s home rink as a freshman at North Dakota, where he played four years. Saturday’s game versus Ottawa was actually his 40th on a NHL roster, having played the previous five seasons in the Florida Panthers organization, although he was not on their roster for either of the team’s runs to the Stanley Cup in 2024 or 2025.

Over the summer, he signed a two-year deal with the Wild worth $1.55 million and after being sent down during training camp, he notched three assists in 23 games with the Iowa Wild. His call-up to Minnesota was a last minute transaction, but Kiersted still had around 15 friends and family at the rink on Saturday to see his on-ice homecoming. Be became the 37th Minnesota-born player to appear in a regular season game for the Wild in their 25-year history.

He heard from several of his former Fighting Hawks teammates on his way to St. Paul for the debut.

“Everyone’s excited. They were congratulating me on the recall and hoping I can get into a game,” Kiersted said. He logged more than 20 minutes versus the Senators, getting 26 shifts. “I’m just doing anything I can to help the team win.”

He admitted that when he got the chance to sign with Minnesota and play closer to home, it was an easy choice to make.

Injury update

Wild coach John Hynes usually spends 20 seconds or so on gamedays updating the media about the current state of the team’s injured players and when they might return. On Tuesday morning, the team’s health report took a full minute and a half, and the coach joked that he’s starting to lose track amid all of the injuries.

He had good news, with Marcus Foligno returning after missing the previous nine contests with a lower body injury. Then came the bad news:

— Forward Marcus Johansson is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

— Defenseman Zach Bogosian is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

— Defenseman Jonas Brodin is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

— Defenseman Jake Middleton had testing done on Tuesday but remains day-to-day with an upper body injury.

— Forward Mats Zuccarello has begun skating but remains out day-to-day with an upper body injury.

— Forward Vinnie Hinostroza, who has missed the past dozen games with a lower body injury, has begun skating and is day-to-day.

The Wild came into Tuesday’s meeting with the Capitals having missed 111 man-games to injury so far. And that number grew as soon as the puck was dropped.

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By CHRISTINE FERNANDO

CHICAGO (AP) — Senior Border Patrol official Greg Bovino returned to the Chicago area on Tuesday, about a month after leaving to lead immigration enforcements in other cities, immigration advocates say.

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Bovino, the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, was photographed Tuesday in the predominantly Mexican American neighborhood of Little Village by the Chicago Sun-Times as neighbors and activists blew whistles and shouted.

Videos obtained by The Associated Press showed several unmarked cars and Border Patrol agents deploying pepper balls and detaining a man in the neighborhood’s business corridor.

Bovino arrived in the Chicago area in September amid Operation Midway Blitz, which has yielded thousands of arrests and fueled fear among immigrant communities. The operation has become known for its aggressive tactics, including the use of chemical munitions and car chases. Since the operation began, federal agents deployed tear gas in neighborhood streets, hit protesters and journalists with pepper balls and shot at least two people, killing one.

Bovino left Chicago in November to lead immigration operations in New Orleans and North Carolina. While immigration operations had continued in Chicago, they were noticeably subdued with fewer tense confrontations, and Tuesday’s enforcements were among the most visible since Bovino left town.

“As we said a month ago, we aren’t leaving Chicago and operations are ongoing,” said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker complained that he was not given notice that Bovino and additional Border Patrol agents were returning to the Chicago area on Tuesday. And he said he doesn’t know how long they’ll stay.

Pritzker also called on Bovino to testify in front of an Illinois commission created in October to document misconduct by federal agents.

“I’m so proud of the people of Illinois, for doing as they have, which is to protect their neighborhoods and their neighbors, to do the right thing,” Pritzker said Tuesday. “And so, I think we’re in a much better position.”

At a Tuesday news conference, activists vowed to continue supporting immigrant communities in the Chicago area. Advocates said 15 people, including day laborers and a tamale vendor, were detained Tuesday on the city’s Southwest side and in suburban Berwyn and Cicero.

“We are tired but we are not weary,” said Illinois State Senator Celina Villanueva. “… Every single time that they come, we are going to show up.”

Victor Rodriguez II, a lifelong resident of Little Village, said he helped a woman when her husband was detained after a “caravan of masked agents began terrorizing our community,” including using pepper balls in neighborhood streets. Rodriguez accused Bovino of “targeted political theater.”

Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said Border Patrol agents questioned striking laborers on Chicago’s Southwest side and accused Bovino of “coming to our picket line to chill union activity.”

“We have seen the first act of this political theater they have brought,” he said. “Now it’s the second act, and we’re ready.”