As part of my ruthless attention to social media, I bumped into a lovely company called Primo Toys. Primo are the creators of a smart little adventuring robot called Cubetto; an educational toy that helps young minds learn about programming without having to sit them in front of any kind of screen. As someone who has spent literal years staring at one screen or another, this sounded like a fantastic idea.

Primo were also nice enough to pop us out a Cubetto Playset to test out and see how the various minds in our family would get to grips with the technology. I’ll continue my waffle in a bit but first have a watch of the video below to see how we got on.

Cubetto himself is a tiny robot that lives in a land of vibrant, multi-coloured squares that designate his landscape. Using a control board, Cubetto can be given a set of simple commands which, when executed, he will set out upon. The commands are given using a charming little selection of coloured tiles which come in a really nice linen bag.

The whole set feels reassuringly solid. From the wooden robot and control board, the linen (or linen-like) play mat and weighty plastic tiles, everything gives the impression that real attention has been paid to creating a hard-wearing product for young children.

This initial set contains the cubetto robot, board, tiles and two booklets; one for general instruction and another containing the Cubetto’s First Day scenario. This alone could keep the kids busy for a decent while to come but upon investigating Primo’s store, it’s apparent that you can also buy additional packs that contain new scenarios, playmats and more complex tiles to choose from.

At first glance Cubetto is a charming distraction, but when you realise the lessons being taught, almost sneakily, alongside the fun, you realise that this toy could have real potential to get kids thinking in a logical, structured way, in a manner that could really help them approach problem-solving in a new way.

We thought it was great and will definitely be mentioning it to our local school as something that could be useful to flourishing young minds.

Disclaimer: We were provided with a Cubetto Playset on a loan basis by Primo Toys in return for a review. No financial remuneration was discussed or expected. All opinions remain our own. This post contains affiliate links.