A couple of weeks ago we hosted a back-to-school party for my six-year-old’s class. We were supplied with a 
Hexbug party pack from Hexbug consisting of Hexbug Nanos, a Battle Bridge set and Habitat sets and pieces. My family had a great time setting everything up and my wife worked hard creating bug-themed food. We had “caterpillars” which were Cheetos Puffs with eyes on them, dirt and grass colored cupcakes with gummy bugs on them, “bug slime” (or blue Kool-Aid, for the layman), the classic “ants-on-a-log,” and of course gummy bugs and worms.
Once the six and seven-year-olds arrived it was the typical chaos that you would imagine. The kids were quite taken with the little vibrating bugs that looked like multi-color roaches. The activities soon centered on the sets that were built and great times were had by all.
The Battle Bridge was a huge draw. What’s the fun of having robots bugs if they cannot compete on the field of battle? This led to many “king of the hill” type matches. Two bugs enter, one bug leaves…
Another new element that was sent to us to try was the spiral ascension piece. This allowed the Hexbugs to travel up a higher level to explore. 
It would be fun to have a few of these, so one could create tall towers of Hexbug habitats with multiple levels of fun.
These things are built kid tough. Everything was dropped from kid height or knocked off a table at one point during the day, with no damage. The Hexbugs themselves are surrounded by rubber (legs and body) so they are pretty tough, but I was really surprised to see how well the habitats are put together. Any parent reading this knows what it is like to put some plastic ‘thing’ together and have something break – usually because there is a plastic tab that bends or is made too thin and snaps. The habitats, tracks and bridge sets never had this problem. They are very sturdy, constructed out of heavy grade plastics and reinforced where they need it.
After the party was over, each child took several Hexbugs home (which is a great idea for goody bags) and a pack of batteries. Our neighbor, who is a school teacher, had a class pet die; so we donated some habitats and Hexbugs to the school. Now they have class pets that will offer hours of discussion and will never die – just add new batteries. The Hexbug line of toys has been out for a while, however they now seem to be getting the attention they deserve. I believe they will be a huge hit this holiday season, especially since the bugs themselves fall into the under $10 price point and the habitats can range in price from $10 to $30. New sets will be arriving in stores soon, so keep an eye out for new exciting products.
Here is another video link that I think is too good not to share. Click here.
All Hexbugs and Habitats were provided by Hexbug. All pictures and video by Tony Sims.
