Review: Hot Wheels Maker Kitz

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We got this kit to build a Hot Wheels pull back car (via Santa) for large boy for Christmas. It was on offer in Aldi one day and a bit of an impulse buy – you’ve got to love the Aldi aisle of randomness. I object to the spelling of “kitz” but that’s just me.

He was in the garden sulking because he’d lost screen time for not listening and for repeating the same thing over and over after being asked not to, shouting after being asked not to, and not sharing with his brother plus a bunch of other cumulative stuff. He looked up at his bedroom window and saw his Hot Wheels build kit on the windowsill, deciding to construct it there and then.

The Build

The blurb on the box says the plastic is strong and its absolutely true. The material is really tough, you need to pop the pieces out of sheets and then push some tiny slots out too. It was quite fiddly but there was a tool included. We ended up getting a flat head screw driver to help too. The instructions are really clear, large boy knew what we has trying to do at each step without help.

The small slots and strong plastic mean that things push together well and firmly, after each step it feels secure and not like it’ll slip apart at any moment. Because there are small holes and it’s quite precise (and because large boy’s fingers are in a state after too much tooth wobbling) he needed some help for some steps. The trickiest part was slotting the motors in.

It took two sessions to finish the construction. Large boy did most of it himself after some encouraging words about perseverance. He was really proud when it was done.

I think our previous experience building a star map helped prepare him for the way that things slotted together and that it takes patience sometimes to get it just right. See Science Museum Create a Night Sky for more about that.

The car

The car is great! It’s tough and has two motors so its 4 wheel drive. There’s a cardboard jump included that works really well with the car. It doesn’t need pulling back very far to wind the motor up enough to go right across our kitchen.

It’s not really surprising, we all know that Hot Wheels cars are tough and almost unbreakable in the hands of even the most determined toddler

Great job Hot Wheels, a fantastic STEM activity. Not too hard but still challenging, not too long or too quick to complete. Kept this 8 year old occupied for at least an hour in total for the build plus lots of future play I’m sure.

Large boy’s review

It was hard to build but exciting too. Its great to play with, and jumps high. I think it’ll last a long time cos it’s quite strong and a crash wouldn’t destroy all of it. There’s a lot of protection you know and aerodynamic bits. Can I go play now?