We’re very excited about the potential for Lego Mindstorms EV3, the latest version of Lego’s robot-building kit. It went on sale this weekend, with three new apps also available.

Why excited? We think there’s some great bonding to be had between parents and children building and programming robots, as well as the educational aspect of learning programming skills.

And the apps? The first is Lego Mindstorms 3D Builder, a tablet app that provides step-by-step instructions for building the Ev3rstorm, Track3r, Gripp3r, Spik3r and R3ptar robots, as well as an animation showing the whole process. Better than printed instructions!

The second app is Lego Mindstorms Robot Commander, which works on smartphones and tablets alike. It’s used for controlling the robots that you’ve built, connecting using Bluetooth wireless technology. Steering, clasping, carrying and other actions, depending on the bot.

Finally, Lego Mindstorms Fix the Factory is a puzzle game starring the Ev3rstorm robot: an exploration game where it has to find misplaced battery packs across a succession of levels.

You don’t need the actual EV3 robotics kit to use that last app, although obviously it’s more of a requirement for the other two. Note: you can expect to pay £299.99 for the EV3 kit – it may be more of a big Christmas present for some families.

Lego Mindstorms 3D Builder is a free download for iPad on Apple’s App Store, and a free download for Android on Google Play.

Lego Mindstorms Robot Commander is also free for iPhone and iPad and free for Android, while Lego Mindstorms Fix the Factory is, yep, free for iPhone and iPad and free for Android.