UK Teacher Makes Children Create Cookie-Carrying Labo Robots

Hey! Hey! Don't forget about Nintendo Labo. The cardboard model kit that lets you build clever shells around the Nintendo Switch isn't the red-hot runaway success Nintendo was likely hoping for, but educators are gradually latching onto it for one of is primary purposes: Teaching kids the basics of engineering.

A sixth-grade teacher named Chris McGivern in the English town of Crawley is using the Labo to compliment his curriculum. Students were instructed to built remote-control cars from the Labo Variety kit, then customize them so they'd be capable of carrying a cookie between two points. Toying around with Labo touches several corners of the school's curriculum: From using markers, paint, and stickers for customization jobs to studying how the Joy-Cons' vibrations move the cars in the first place.

"Nintendo Labo is a fun and creative way to access the curriculum," McGivern said. "The magic of Nintendo Labo is matching a product with the opportunity to make, play and discover, in such an imaginative way—and the children’s enthusiasm for the product is just the first step. Then it’s encouraging collaboration, the sharing of ideas, and ultimately the testing of them."

There are a couple of Labo kits currently available at different prices. Our guide to Nintendo Labo tells you everything you need to know about the various kits, the contents within, and the prices. We can't tell you how to make your Labo RC car the prettiest car in town, though. That's up to your imagination.