We've Been Invaded! Hexbugs Review & Giveaway

Sometimes raising boys can be a little challenging, especially when you're a mom who isn't big on all the little creatures that boys seem to be attracted to.  We have been home to a number of lizards over the last few years, which means we have to keep crickets and mealworms for the lizards to eat.   I really HATE having these icky things in my house.   I've found the boys poking at beetles, grasshoppers and even a scorpion once, albeit from a distance, with a VERY long stick.  That one about gave me a heart attack!

A few weeks ago, we got a package from the UPS man FILLED with bugs!  Lucky for me, they are of a robotic/electronic nature, so they were very welcome inside our living room.  HEXBUGS are swarming the country and I gotta say, for little tiny toys, they are pretty interesting.

So what are they?  HEXBUG Nanos are these little robotic toys that look and act like bugs!  They use vibration to scurry around on their twelve little rubber legs and when they hit a wall or get stuck, they just redirect themselves  (in a freaked out, chaotic way like a real trapped bug would) until they find an escape point, then they're off again! They can even right themselves when they get flipped on their backs!  They really do look and act like real bugs.  Kind of freaky, but in a good way!

The HEXBUG Nanos come in test tubes, each with a unique code that kids can register online to track their collection.  Once online, they can play games and learn intersting scientific facts. I liked the fact that the manufacturer (Innovation First International) encourages learning as a part of the HEXBUG experience.  My oldest is really enjoying the website, my youngest seemed a little overwhelmed by it, but he's not the computer kid in the family, so either his brother or myself will have to help him navigate the website at some point.

According to the HEXBUG website, "the first prototypes of the Nano were inspired by the old vibrating football games...Thirty some iterations, a few years, and dozens of designs later the Nano was born. To give just a taste of how much development went into this product, we engineered and rapid prototyped over 150 variations of legs alone."   Which is why I'm not a scientist.  I have no patience for the fine tuning process I guess.  But people who are interested in what makes the HEXBUGS tick should check out the Design portion of the website.  It gives LOTS of information on what makes the HEXBUGS work.  The site also has instructions on how to change the batteries and other helpful info to keep your bugs working properly.  A "How to Care for Your New Hexbug" handbook, if you will.

Thanks to HEXBUGS and MomSelect, we had the chance to invite some of the boys' friends over to try out the HEXBUG Nanos on their Habitat set.  Boys and girls both loved the little creatures and spent 3 hours at our little bug party racing them in the habitat and all over the house. 

Along with using the habitat, we also played a few games with the HEXBUGS.  The kids favorite game was called Anthill.  We cut some holes in a box and assigned each hole points.  The HEXBUGS all got turned on and set on the floor then we quickly (and I mean quickly!  Those little dudes are fast!) turned the box over on top of them.  We could hear the bugs bouncing off the sides of the box looking for and escape, which made the kids laugh hysterically.  Eventually one of them would find a hole and emerge, winning the points assigned to the hole.  The HEXBUG with the most points after 3 rounds won the game. 

  

It was a fun day for the boys and their friends and the HEXBUGS and Habitat continue to be a source of entertainment for our boy filled neighborhood, as well as for Blackie Chan the Ninja Cat, who on occasion will appear out of nowhere to pounce on one of the unsuspecting robotic creatures.  His fun is shortlived though.  As soon as he realizes he can't bite through them, he bats them across the room and walks away.  

Wanna win a HEXBUG Nano of your own?  I have 2  Nano test tubes to give away to one lucky reader!!   You know the drill, right?  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win!  For extra enteries you can

• Post the contest on Facebook
• Tweet the contest on Twitter
• Blog about the contest
• Link the contest to a Mr Linky somewhere on the internet
• Follow my blog!  

Let me know in a separate comment what you've done so I can make sure you get credit for each effort! Contest will end on September 30th 2010 at 12 midnight PST.  U.S. residents only (sorry, shipping costs!). 

A Lesson about Erosion...

I am all for toys that give my kids opportunities to learn about nature and science and stuff.  I really try hard to steer them towards really cool gadgets that will enable them to engage their brains while they play and learn when their first impulse is to spend that Christmas Walmart gift card on more action figures.  So I was really excited for Little Man when he got the rock tumbler he asked for at Christmas!

Why was I excited?  Because he collects sooooooooo many rocks and sticks and bottle caps and other assorted items that he finds on a daily basis, I thought it would be cool to for him to have something to DO with those rocks - other than put them in his pocket.  Waaaay down in his pocket.  So far down in those tiny little pockets that my fat fingers don't always reach the bottom to find them.  Which means they end up in my washer. You know...the GIANT rock tumbler.  So I thought a real rock tumbler would be an easy and fun way to spend time together and to learn about nature.  What can I say?  I am naive.  Why would I say that?

Hmmm...well...Have you ever had a rock tumbler? If you have, you are shaking your head knowingly right now and  probably laughing hysterically at my naivete.  If you have not had the opportunity to experience a rock tumbler with your child?  You should go buy one right now.  (Insert Evil laugh)  Seriously!  Go buy one.  They are sooooooo much fun (Second evil laugh)!  Go.  Get in the car and drive to Toys R Us and pick one up.  Get your kids all excited about this awesome piece of kid machinery that you are bringing home.  As soon as you get it open, run plug it in.  Then call me in like 5 weeks and tell me how your rocks look.  Wait, what!?!?!  

Yeah.  You heard me.  5 weeks.  Of rock polishing hell.  5 weeks of Little Man asking me Every. Single. Day. when the rocks would be ready.  35 days of listening to the laborious grumbling and groaning of the polisher motor as it worked to erode the corners and edges off of those "semi-precious" hunks of hardened earth.  Night and day, day and night!  We even had the foresight to put it outside on our back patio, but the droning noise was inescapable.  We endured 5 loooooong, irritating, noisy, loud weeks with this "amazing gift for kids...that enables you to create stunning jewelry with gem-like polished stones" only to end up with some craptastic, barely shiny pieces of rock that only an 8 year-old could appreciate.  The same 8 year-old who gave up on the process at day 2, then again at day 4, then again at day 7, again at day 12...you get the idea.  Trying to keep him engaged in the process was like trying to teach a cat to dance.  He'd let me lead him to the polisher, we'd check the container, he'd notice that the rocks were pretty much the same as the day before, shoot me that "this is really annoying and lame, Mom" look and scamper away to play with his friends, leaving me to stare at the rocks myself and wonder just how freaking long it takes to make a damn rock shiny and smooth!  Especially when the rocks that came with the kit had obviously already been through half the process before they ever got to us!  Whoo!  Can't remember when we've had more fun!   

Towards the end, I couldn't figure out who had been eroded more - me or the rocks?  But I perservered  for Little Man's sake.  Because I wanted him to learn that we have to see a project all the way through.  Even if it takes a month.   Never mind that the noise the thing made night and day.  Never mind the fact that the finished product would be shoved into his deepest, smallest pocket so he could show his friends his cool rocks and then accidently leave them somewhere.  Never mind the fact that none of the rocks actually fit the jewelry bases that were sent along with the kit, nor did we have the tools we needed to drill tiny holes into the rocks to insert the keychain rings.   After 5 weeks of waiting, none of that mattered.  What mattered was that we were doing something together (kind of - like every couple of days for 5 minutes) and that he was learning about the effects of nature (kind of - like every couple of days for 5 minutes) and that for awhile his little mind was focused on something other than TV or action figures (kind of, like ...well, you get it).  So in the end, despite all of the waiting and the "just okay" outcome, I guess the experience was worth it.  We had a few bonding moments and enduring all of the rock polisher drama to get that time with Little Man was worth it.

And now, I get the added bonus of remembering those precious moments everytime I open the game closet and see that freaking rock polisher sitting there.  It stares back at me, begging me to let the other set of rocks (yeah, it came with 2 sets!  'Cause 1 go-round with this pain in the crack isn't torture enough!) have a turn at making their debut as "semi-precious" stones.  Yeah, umm...rocks?  I think it will be a cold day in Hades before you find your way to a crappy wire earring or cheap brooch clip.  Blame your slow and tedious bossman, Mr. Tumbler there.  'Til he's figured out how to speed up the process and produce a better looking product, I've had all of the science and nature bonding moments I can take.  I'm just sayin.'

(I'll post pics sometime this weekend!)