Friday Review: Senario

As kids, the Baby & Kids staff was more into dolls and dress-up than anything robotic. Now that we're adults — and learning about new toys is part of our job — we've found ourselves drawn to the types of toys that our 5-year-old selves would've sneered at and given to our smelly little brothers. So when a package bearing a Zibit came to our office, we were intrigued.

The Zibit, manufactured by toy company Senario, is a little robot that comes with its own remote control to move the bot around. Each robot has its own name and backstory, and the Zibits are meant to be collectibles. Ours was Dinc, known throughout the Zibits world as a clumsy day-dreamer. Dinc can zoom around while making squeaky robotic sounds and lighting up at random. We can definitely see the appeal in collecting several robots; each robot's backstory and personality quirks are certain to pique a child's imagination.

Our favorite feature of the Zibit perhaps reflects our girly childhoods, but one of the best things about each Zibit is how gender neutral they are. We found that ours is pretty cute — much cuter than most robot toys — and his assigned personality makes him appeal toward the girl set. Dinc is also fun and tech-y for boys. Plus, it's a robot, you can't get much more boy-ish than that. Collectible toys are always a great gift idea, and these robots could be given to any child with a penchant for robotics and imaginative play.

Photo courtesy Zibits.