My kid is really into Legos. But apparently there are multiple incarnations of Legos, and being into one doesn't mean, necessarily, that the others are quite so interesting. Which is why I am really really glad, or at least my bank account is, that he's not (yet) into Lego Mindstorms. Hello, $250 for a Lego kit? No thank you. However, if he was, and even if he's not, I've found the awesomest birthday party deal on the planet for a geek-kid who's into robots and Legos: the Storming Robots Technology Learning Center.
Ooh, just the words "storming robots" sets those geek-juices flowing, don't they?
And apparently the location of this place is secret, which only adds to its appeal. Somewhere in the eastern US is all I can figure. But! For in the neighborhood of $200 your kid and seven kid-friends can spend a couple of hours in the computer lab buildng and operating Legoish robots while you watch from the safety and comfort of a space that's behind a one-way mirror ("All labs have an one-sided mirror through which parents can
watch all the excitement children have"). Okayyyyy.
And! Here's a sample theme: The Mission Mars program is about a dramatic rescue situation. A Martian
storm has disconnected all communication lines to the space station. The
space scientists have been hurt. This is Urgent! They must
be rescued and sent back to Mother Earth before the next storm hits
Mars.
Makes you want to get right behind that one-way mirror and watch all the excitement kids can have, doesn't it? Oh! And there's free coffee for adults, so you canget all hopped up on caffeine while you watch this: Participants will "see" their own achievement in every single
action, jump up and scream "Hurray! I did it!".
Okay, so the place could use a good copywriter. But even awkward prose doesn't take away from the fact that, hello, ROBOTS! Attached to computers!! I have no idea how these are operated, but if I ever have a birthday party, I totally know where it's going to be.
P.S. Found it. This place is in New Jersey. If you're not in New Jersey, maybe there's a Lego Education center near you, or on its way (especially if you live in the Asian Pacific region), or there are after-school programs in many places.
