There’s a peculiar satisfaction in drawing a path and watching something faithfully follow it – the cat sure won’t. These two compact robots use optical sensors to detect a dark line and trace whatever route a young engineer puts in front of them, turning a simple marker stroke into a tiny autonomous journey.

The included dry-erase board and markers make it easy to experiment with loops, turns, crossings, and increasingly elaborate courses, while the 21-page playbook introduces patterns such as Celtic knots, Möbius strips, and infinite loops for kids who would rather start with a challenge than a blank page.

Because the route can be redrawn again and again, the fun shifts quickly from watching the robots move to figuring out what kind of course they can handle next. It’s a tidy intersection of drawing, problem-solving, and robotics, with just enough unpredictability to keep the marker uncapped.