1
Invent the creature
Sketch it, decide what it should do, and work out which parts have to move for that to happen.
Individual build · Returning 2027
Magic Pets
Robotics
Your child designs a creature, prints its body, wires its insides, writes the code that makes it move, and carries it home working. Nobody shares it. Nobody takes it back at the end.
3D design and printing
Servos and circuits
Yours to keep
What it actually is
Four disciplines, one animal, and no step your child did not do themselves.
Most robotics courses for this age give children a pre-made chassis and a lesson on driving it. Magic Pets goes back several steps further, to the point where the machine does not exist yet.
Students start with a creature they invent. They model the body, work out how the parts have to fit together, and send it to the printer. Printing is slow and unglamorous, which is itself instructive: a design flaw discovered after three hours of printing teaches measurement in a way no worksheet manages.
Then the electronics. A microcontroller, a servo or two, power, and a handful of jumper wires that all have to go in the correct places. Students learn what a servo actually does, why motors need more current than a logic board will give them, and how to trace a circuit when nothing happens.
Finally, behaviour. Code turns a printed shell with a motor in it into something that responds. This is where the connection lands for most children: the thing on the bench does exactly what they told it to, including the parts they got wrong.
Why it is called Magic Pets
Because to a seven year old, a plastic animal that turns its head when you clap is indistinguishable from magic, right up until the moment they are the one who wired it. Then it becomes something better than magic, which is a thing they understand and could build again.
- Format
- Individual. One student, one build, start to finish.
- Skills
- 3D modelling, printing, circuits, servos, programming, debugging.
- They keep
- The finished pet, working, along with the files they made.
- Finishes with
- A Parent Showcase where students demonstrate and explain the build.
- Status
- Returning in 2027. Places allocated from the waiting list.
The build, in order
From an idea on paper to something that moves.
2
Model and print
Build the body in 3D, leave room for the electronics, and discover what tolerance means when the servo does not fit.
3
Wire the insides
Microcontroller, servos, power. Students learn to check power, then ground, then signal, rather than guessing.
4
Program the behaviour
Write the code that makes it react, then debug the difference between what they meant and what they typed.
5
Show it off
Demonstrate it at the Parent Showcase and explain, without notes, how each part of it works.
What they take away
The pet goes on a shelf. The rest of it does not.
- A working mental model of a circuit. Power, ground, signal, and what happens when one of them is missing.
- Real 3D design skill. Not a printed keyring. A functional assembly with parts that have to fit each other.
- Debugging as a method. Change one thing, test, write down what happened. This is the transferable part.
- Patience with slow processes. A print takes hours and cannot be hurried, which is a lesson in itself.
- Proof they can finish something hard. For a lot of students this is the first time.
Questions
What parents ask about Magic Pets.
When does Magic Pets run again?
Magic Pets is returning in 2027. The waiting list is how places are filled, and because every student needs their own print time and their own set of electronics, the cohort is small. Joining the list costs nothing and does not commit you to anything.
Does my child keep what they build?
Yes. The whole point is that they walk out with a working machine they made, not a kit that goes back in the box at the end of term. Parents tell us the pet ends up on a shelf for years.
Is 3D printing safe for children this age?
The printers are operated with supervision and students are taught the same handling rules any workshop would use. They design the parts and prepare the files themselves, which is where the learning is.
What if the electronics do not work?
They will not, at first. Almost nobody wires a circuit correctly on the first attempt. Finding the fault is not an interruption to the course, it is the course. Students learn to check power, then ground, then signal, in that order, and to stop guessing.
Does this lead anywhere afterwards?
Students finish at a Parent Showcase where they demonstrate what they built and explain how it works. Many go on to FIRST LEGO League or Invention Convention with a much stronger grasp of electronics than their teammates.
2027 waiting list
Places are filled from the list, in order.
Magic Pets needs print time and a full set of electronics per student, so the cohort is small. Joining the waiting list costs nothing, commits you to nothing, and is the only way to hear first when dates are set.