Discovery Mindblown Hydraulic Robot Arm (age 10+) Review (sent by The Essential One).

A lot of online vendors have had to close shop for a while, and obviously we don't have instore shopping right now, but The Essential One are still open for business online. They sell all kinds of products for babies and children, and have sent us two of the toys for bigger kids from the Discovery Mindblown STEM range.

I've already covered the Toy Anatomy 4D Shark. Age 6+ and here is the Discovery Mindblown Toy DIY Robotic Arm with Hydraulics. Age 10+.

We've never created anything using hydraulics before, so this was an entirely new concept for my 11 and 10 year old boys. We also have our 22 year old engineering student here, so he helped. This is a 176 piece kit, and it's a challenge to a young engineer.

The parts are mainly on sprue, and you'll do a better job if you use scissors or snips. You'll need your own basic tools, but they are things you'd tend to have at home - scissors, tape, ruler, screwdriver etc.

While building your child will start to understand some concepts and will already be learning. Parts need to be oiled, the assembly needs to be watertight, and the robot needs to move.

The instruction leaflet is clear, if a little bit daunting, however my 10 and 11 year old boys had plenty of help. It turned into quite the family project and I think they all enjoyed themselves.

(I know a lot of people search for this post because you have lost the instruction leaflet. I have photographed it and created a PDF. Email me if you would like me to send you a copy...  thebrickcastle@gmail.com )

Most of the build is pretty straightforward, but you will need a bit of hand strength to fit some parts - it can be very stiff and a tight fit.

It only takes a cup full of water to complete the build, and you have a huge range of movement in your robotic arm. It's really impressive and a great way to learn about how to transfer power and use hydraulics to do some quite complex actions. A definite science and engineering win.

Here's a quick video with my 11 year old demonstrating his new robotic arm...

There a FREE Discovery Mindblown app. that anyone can download, with games, DIY videos and loads more to whet your appetite for exploring STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) skills.

The Discovery Mindblown STEM toys, including The Discovery Toy DIY Robotic Arm with Hydraulics, age 10+ (£39.99) are available in the UK from The Essential One. 

UK delivery is from £4.95.

We were sent our toys for review by The Essential One