Let's be clear about two things: 1. I am a tech luddite; 2. I, coincidentally, grew up broke playing with sticks and rocks, and galdang it I liked it. Resultantly, I view expensive high tech toys with both skepticism and romanticism. That in mind: I covet this toy series, I want it to get funded, I'm begging my mom for one, and I would like to subscribe to its newsletter.

TinkerBots are reconfigurable, programmable, kinetic toys. The block-based sets use a central "Power Brain" cube that provides power and an arduino-compatible microcontroller. Snap in a variety of mobile and immobile pieces and expand your robotic object in a myriad of ways. Depending on the set, you can control a vehicle by bluetooth, mobilize an animal, teach it new moves, add proximity sensors and grabbing claws... They tout the capability of being a "living Lego" set, and have even designed in actual Lego compatibility. They're a little less versatile than that plastic block titan, but hey, baby steps. More importantly, you get a little modular robot with no wiring or programming needed. One of their goals is to adapt the system to use as a quadcopter. Teach your progeny about programming and the sinister future of drones in a single go!

Check out the campaign video:

There are more modular robotics toys coming out all the time, just do a search for "modular robotic toy" and you'll have some decent options. Another cool recent one is Moss. Think these are a good use of kid-tech? Found anything better?