The Make Magazine web site pointed me to this great open house activity that the Electrical Engineering department over at WUSTL put on for potential incoming freshmen. Students could show up and build their own light-activated robot with a few dollars worth of parts in about 30 minutes using absolutely no tools whatsoever. And they got to take their new pet home when they were finished with version 1.0.Using the paint roller drive wheel vs. motor shaft ratio of diameters as an effective gear reduction is a bit of creative genius. Given that there are only ten or so parts and the instructions are only a page long, I'm thinking this one could be useful even in late elementary school.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, ...

A couple of MIT hackers have put together a fantastic little kit complete with all the parts you need, pre-designed PC boards, and ultra-clear directions on this web site.This approximately 20-part kit makes really cool flashing LEDs that can paint 2-D pictures when you wave them through the air, and is a perfect first project to begin learning how to solder, assemble simple electronics, program microcontrollers, and just make cool flashy things. You can even buy all the rather inexpensive components ready to go from this web site.