Sphero 2.0 was one of my top picks last year and Orbotix has only strengthened it in 2014 by making public the programming lessons that were previously only available to schools. This means that it is not only a cool looking remote controlled device, but it also can be used as an introduction to robotics. This year the company introduced its second RC device, Ollie. Instead of a sphere, the new model has two large spinning wheels on either end of a cylander. It can do all sorts of wacky tricks and is much faster (and somewhat harder to control) than Sphero, but at its heart it is still an introduction to a world where kids make things happen, where they are doers, not watchers, where play is an opportunity to develop and grow.
