*I make no secret that one day I’d like one more baby, that I believe we are destined to be a family of 7, after all, isn’t seven the ‘perfect’ number? 7 dwarfs, 7 colours of the rainbow, secret 7….. the original S Club?! I mean surely it’s meant to be right?

Of course, I’m in no rush, and my husband even less, to add to our brood. Gully is 15 months and more than enough mischief for us to manage right now, and, as always with me the work/life juggle is real….. turns out my little corner of the internet (oh that’s cheesy) is finally taking off, making time management a real issue……. we considered a pet….. but even a goldfish would probably be beyond my capabilities at the moment, I mean I killed my aloe Vera plant the week after buying it, because I re potted her into a more instagramable pot….. and apparently she wasn’t happy about it.

Goodbye Vera

So, what could I do to stave off those broody feelings a while longer? Enter Cozmo

A mischievous side kick of our very own. Sent to us to review and welcome into our home, Cozmo is an app enabled real life robot. Powered by AI he is always learning and developing, has a personality of his own and facial expressions to match. He’s packed full of fun for the whole family, from simple coding, interactive games, exploring the world around him and giving a fist bump (yes really) he’s full of quirks and surprises.

I make a point, as regular readers will know, not to accept or review items that I wouldn’t want to buy myself, many of you will also know that I’m a champion of mainly wooden toys!  I encourage role play over screens and all singing, all dancing plastic activities just aren’t my bag….so why did I agree to Cozmo? After all I’ve not been paid to invite this little guy in my home, and I’m a total technophobe at the best of times, only managing to just about upload on the blog…… somtimes I even call on my developer to adjust an image, I’m just so crap with coding and tech in general …… but that is precisely why I did this.

Coding is an important skill for the future, one which a lack of, holds me back at times. I wouldn’t want this for my children and also I figured I could learn myself also…..

Yet what most surprised me about Cozmo is, for all his intelligence and personality, Cozmo still encourages learning and cognitive development. He’s not a screen to be tapped or fed into the brain, he’s memory games….. reflex testing and he encourages language. He’s a traditional toy like a remote control car or match up game…… but with a fabulously modern twist (mainly because he throws funny little tantrums when he loses and sure knows how to rub it in if you do… like a real child, or pet….. the more you play with him the more he learns. Each new task unlocks hidden gems in his personality and he encourages the one thing I champion most in toys….. imagination!!!!

The little guy even knows our names. Face recognition software enables him to actually greet each member of the family! Calling out our names when he sees us. He also requires feeding in manner of Short Circuit robot, Number 5. I honestly thought he was going to feed from his blocks and shout, input…. more input…. ok you’ll only get that if you’re of a certain age…. but wow, I had no idea that pet toys have developed this far……. I swear Tamagotchis must be retro in comparison.

While many reviews you may read about him will I’m sure focus on his ability to engage and teach, his technical specifications and other such stuff that if I’m honest is beyond me.  I love how he really can become part of the family, the very idea that as parents we can utilise his features to animate him so the children really believe he is alive……. was by far the most appealing aspect of Cozmo. He’s high tech and smart and stylish but he’s also magical and if I’m honest that was delightfully unexpected.

We are a family of 6…… keeping four children with different needs entertained is exhausting. Yet he’s versatile enough to provide something for everyone…….. he even got hiccups once and needed me to wind him. I guess you’d say he can stay!! We love having him in our home and he will keep my broodiness at bay….. for a little while longer at least.

If you think you might like a Cozmo of your very own. Be sure to check out this link: even take a look at the full Anki website for more relationship building AI technology.

Below you can enjoy our unboxing video to get a better idea of how simple Cozmo is to set up and play with. As well as the many games and exploits he brought to our household. There’s also a fun mini video of our Ernie really embracing the Cozmo spirit of imagination, intelligence and humour.

*of course it goes without saying, that even though we were kindly gifted Cozmo in exchange for this content, all words, opinions and random moments of wit are my own.