Product Description:

The Sphero Blueprint Engineering Kit is a comprehensive, hands-on educational tool developed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of mechanical and structural engineering. Designed for middle school and high school students, as well as for use in makerspaces and STEM labs, this kit supports 1–2 learners per set and encourages exploration, creativity, and real-world problem-solving. Students can build, design, and prototype functional machines and structures while gaining exposure to authentic engineering practices. With no prior programming knowledge required, learners can engage with both mechanical components and electronic elements such as sensors and motors, fostering a deep understanding of how engineering systems work together. This immersive approach bridges the gap between classroom theory and real-world application, helping students develop essential STEAM skills, including critical thinking, teamwork, and perseverance.

What’s Included:

The kit includes 355 durable mechanical parts and 17 plug-and-play electronic Bits, giving students everything they need to build fully functional prototypes with movement and interactivity.

Key Learning Benefits:

The Sphero Blueprint Engineering Kit is more than just a building set—it’s a full-fledged educational experience that introduces learners to the real-world principles of STEAM education. Through guided exploration and open-ended experimentation, students gain hands-on exposure to vital concepts such as force, motion, mechanical advantage, energy transfer, and structural stability. By engaging with the Blueprint Kit, students develop core competencies in engineering design thinking. They are encouraged to imagine an idea, build a physical model, test its functionality, and iterate based on results—just like professional engineers. This iterative process promotes a fail-forward mindset and cultivates soft skills such as collaboration, resilience, time management, and creativity. The kit also provides opportunities for peer-based learning and teamwork, allowing students to communicate ideas, delegate tasks, and solve complex problems together.

Mechanical Components:

At the heart of the Blueprint Engineering Kit are its 355 mechanical parts, which include beams, wheels, axles, gears, pulleys, brackets, connectors, and more. Each component has been carefully designed for ease of use, allowing students to snap together structures quickly while maintaining build integrity and flexibility. The parts are lightweight, strong, and reusable—perfect for repeated use in a classroom setting. These mechanical pieces allow learners to construct models that explore critical engineering concepts such as leverage, torque, balance, rotation, friction, and structural loads. Whether students are building bridges, elevators, robotic arms, or cranes, they’ll gain practical knowledge of how mechanical systems operate. The components are color-coded and shaped for intuitive learning, helping students visualize and understand how individual parts work together to create complex machines.

Electronic Components:

The kit includes 17 electrical Bits, which bring students’ mechanical designs to life by introducing motion, sensing, and automation. These Bits include motors, sensors (such as proximity or tilt sensors), switches, and power modules that allow for responsive and interactive projects. They are plug-and-play, so no prior coding or programming experience is needed—students simply connect the components and start experimenting. By integrating electronics into their builds, students can observe real-time cause-and-effect relationships and understand how electronic signals control mechanical motion. This not only reinforces basic electronic and circuit theory but also introduces learners to the principles of electromechanical systems, preparing them for more advanced STEM topics in the future. It’s a powerful way to demonstrate the intersection of mechanics and electronics in a hands-on, accessible manner.

Ease of Use and Assembly:

The Sphero Blueprint Kit has been designed with student usability in mind. Every part is engineered to be intuitive and easy to assemble, allowing students to focus on creativity rather than complexity. Components snap and lock securely, yet are simple to detach and rearrange—ideal for rapid prototyping and multiple iterations. This kit supports a fail-forward, trial-and-error approach, where students are encouraged to test, improve, and refine their builds. Whether they are constructing simple mechanical tools or complex sensor-driven machines, learners can quickly modify their designs to improve performance. This eliminates frustration, reduces classroom downtime, and ensures an engaging and enjoyable building experience.

Classroom Integration:

The Sphero Blueprint Engineering Kit is a perfect fit for modern education environments that value hands-on, project-based learning. It aligns with key STEM and STEAM curriculum standards, supporting both structured lesson plans and exploratory challenges. Educators can use the kit to lead targeted exercises in physics and engineering or to encourage open-ended design projects that foster creativity and innovation. Whether used during class time, in an afterschool robotics club, or in a makerspace setting, the Blueprint Kit provides educators with a flexible and powerful tool for enhancing student engagement. Its multidisciplinary nature—combining science, technology, engineering, art, and math—makes it ideal for developing well-rounded learners who are prepared for the demands of future careers in engineering, robotics, technology, and design.