Some early prep work was necessary to hot-glue the breadboards to the paint rollers, and perhaps solder the connectors onto the battery leads. But intrepid students could easily figure that part out for a longer classroom activity. I just love this photo from the web site of one student “walking their robot” and leading it with a flashlight.

Get the one-page assembly instructions here and get those kids building robots. Once they’ve mastered this initial version, begin asking questions like, “okay, now how would you build another version that steers?” or “How would you make it go faster, or climb steeper hills?” or “how big could you make it and how much would it carry?”

What a great beginning.