Targeted to young padawans/engineers ages 8 to 12, the kit comes with a transparent plastic R2-D2 body and all the color-coded, electronic building blocks ⏤ motor, control hub, proximity sensor, etc. ⏤ needed to create a moving and beeping custom droid, which can then be controlled via a smartphone. Perhaps sensing a shift in the force, the kit immediately directs users to the app to get started ⏤ no paper instructions here. Our son has been around smartphones his entire life, so after a quick install, he was off to the races. In fact, in place of a traditional instruction manual, the app begins with a series of training missions, the first several of which involve assembling the R2 Unit. Our son was quickly hooked. The missions start out slow, by identifying and assembling the internal components, but then ramp up to programming motion controls and decorating your bot. In addition to the included sticker sheets, the case can be customized with blocks, arts and crafts supplies, and random stuff you have lying around the house. Depending on your kid’s imagination, their Artoo doesn’t need to look anything like the droid in the movie. If I had any complaints, it was that the kit requires a relatively current smartphone or tablet, and the hand-me-down iPads our kids have been using and abusing wouldn’t cut it. I had to install the app on my own phone, which admittedly, I’m never big on doing. Also, at least for the younger inventors, the kit does require some adult assistance as things can get a little complicated. That said, watching my son’s completed R2-D2 rolling and beeping around the house was every bit as satisfying as I had hoped. The most exciting present I ever got as a kid was a Transformers Sky Lynx, a NASA space shuttle orbiter mounted atop what resembled a crawler transporter. I have no idea what my parents paid for it at the time (they go for $150 today), but I remember thinking, “Two robots in one, what more a kid ask for!?” Thirty years later, I know. And it’s a pint-sized R2-D2 that, not only can they build, program, and re-build all over again, but that will hopefully shape them into a future scientist, engineer, or inventor. It is, after all, the 21st century. Buy Now $94