Question 1

I have never taught robotics. Can I really run this?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and most of the teachers who run it had not either. The workshop is three hours and takes a teacher from never having seen the kit to planning their own lesson. The sentence we hear most from teachers afterwards is some version of: it changed my idea of what robotics is into something I can actually do.

Question 2

How much preparation does a lesson take?

Accepted Answer

The lessons arrive written. Each one has slides, a materials list, the build steps and the questions to ask, so the preparation is reading it. We will not pretend planning time is a solved problem: teachers rate the workshop 4.67 out of 5 and their own confidence to plan a lesson afterwards 3.96. That gap is exactly why the lesson library exists and why it keeps growing.

Question 3

Which subjects does it fit?

Accepted Answer

Science, Mathematics, Languages, Art, Social Studies, Geography, character education. A catapult is an angles lesson, a coastal barrier is a geography lesson, a build a student has to pitch is a language lesson. The Academy is organised by subject rather than by robot for exactly this reason.

Question 4

How long is a lesson, and does it fit a normal period?

Accepted Answer

A one-hour lesson works and a basic build finishes inside one session. Two hours is more comfortable if you want the full arc of building, testing and improving. Workshops we run range from one and a half to five hours depending on what a school wants out of them.

Question 5

What age is it for?

Accepted Answer

Nine and up works independently. Seven to nine works with a teacher or parent nearby. Below seven we do not recommend it, and we will say so rather than sell you one, because small hands cannot push a chopstick into a socket hard enough. At the other end the same kit is used in polytechnics and universities.

Question 6

How do I manage a whole class building at once?

Accepted Answer

Groups of two to four around one kit, with roles inside the group, is what almost every classroom settles on. A parts count at the start and end of the lesson saves an argument later. For younger classes a second adult in the room makes a real difference.

Question 7

What if students break their builds?

Accepted Answer

They will, and that is the lesson. Chopsticks and connectors come apart and go back together, which is why the same set survives a class that takes everything to pieces and why failing at something is cheap here.

Question 8

Can I see the lessons before my school buys anything?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Six lessons are free at all times with no account, and Guest Mode lets you walk around the Academy and see how a lesson is written before you decide anything.

Question 9

What exactly is in the kit?

Accepted Answer

Bamboo chopsticks and 3D-printed connectors, which is the frame, plus an electronic board with motors, which is what makes it move. Students build the structure themselves rather than clicking together parts that were already the right shape. A Sensor Kit adds ultrasonic, light, temperature, humidity and gyroscope sensors and an LCD screen, and is bought separately.

Question 10

What is the difference between a Robotics Kit, a Classroom Set and a Sensor Kit?

Accepted Answer

A Robotics Kit is one student kit: the connector kit and the electronic kit together, and it is the complete buildable robot. A Classroom Set is ten Robotics Kits in one bin, which covers up to forty students in groups of two to four. A Sensor Kit is the expansion, sold separately. This is the thing people most often trip on, usually because the expansion kit is called an extension kit somewhere else, so if something looks missing from your order it is worth checking this first.

Question 11

What can students actually build?

Accepted Answer

Cars, cranes, cable cars, catapults, drawing machines, dragon boats, gliders, humanoid robots, hydroponic farms. One Classroom Set holds enough chopsticks and connectors for hundreds of different builds, and the only other things you need are everyday materials: cardboard, string, bottles, tape.

Question 12

Does it need a screen, and does it need charging?

Accepted Answer

For the building, no. Chopsticks grip into tapered sockets by friction, with no glue, no screws, no battery and no app, and that is most of a lesson. To make a build move you need the electronic board, a USB power bank and a device to control it from, so a flat battery costs a school the robotics part of the lesson rather than the whole lesson.

Question 13

What devices do we need in the classroom?

Accepted Answer

Laptops or Chromebooks running Chrome or Edge, which reach control.stickem.sg over Bluetooth with nothing to install. On iPads you need the Stick ’Em Control app from the App Store instead, because Safari cannot do Web Bluetooth. Teachers only need one device between a group of three or four, plus the projector for whoever is leading.

Question 14

Do students need to know how to code?

Accepted Answer

No. A build moves from a simple control app, and that is where most classes stop. Coding is there for the classes that want to go further, and so is vibe coding a web app to drive the thing they built, but neither is a prerequisite for a first lesson.

Question 15

How long does a kit last, and what happens when parts break?

Accepted Answer

Two to three years in ordinary classroom use. Chopsticks are consumable by design and get replaced roughly once a year, which is what keeps the running cost low. Connectors and boards last much longer. Write to us with your order and we will sort out replacements.

Question 16

Does it work for students with additional needs?

Accepted Answer

It is used in mainstream classrooms with a wide ability range and in special education settings, mostly because there is no single right answer to build towards and no reading load to get past. The build is physical and forgiving: a piece that does not fit comes apart again. The part that needs the most care is fine motor strength, which is also why we do not recommend it below seven.

Question 17

Is it available in other languages?

Accepted Answer

The platform is in English. Lesson materials exist in other languages where a partner has made them: there is a Vietnamese lesson set, and printed Bahasa Indonesia lesson packs. Tell us what you need and we will tell you honestly whether it exists yet.

Question 18

What does it cost?

Accepted Answer

A Classroom Set starts at S$1,000 and covers up to forty students, which is about a tenth of what conventional classroom robotics costs. An individual Robotics Kit starts at S$100 and a Sensor Kit at S$35. A small pilot, which is two sets, a year of Academy access for eighty students and a teacher workshop, starts at S$5,940. Those are starting points: tell us how many classrooms and which term and we will send you a real quote.

Question 19

Can we try it before committing?

Accepted Answer

Most schools start with a pilot: one or two Classroom Sets, Academy access for a cohort, and one teacher workshop. That is enough to run a full term and decide on what you actually saw rather than on a demonstration. Ask for a pilot quote and we will size it to your school.

Question 20

Do I have to subscribe to the Academy as well as buy the kit?

Accepted Answer

The hardware is a one-off and the Academy is a yearly subscription, and they are separate on purpose so a school can buy one without the other. Buying a kit gives you the six free lessons; the full library, the customised lessons and the staff workshop come with a school subscription. We would rather say that plainly than have you find it out after the purchase order.

Question 21

How do we raise a purchase order, and can you invoice our finance office?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We issue a dated quotation, you raise a purchase order, and we invoice on delivery. Singapore government schools can e-invoice through Vendors@Gov. We can split a quotation into hardware, training and Academy so each sits in the right budget line, and we can leave the issuing date as to be confirmed until your funds are released, which is what most Applied Learning Programme budgets need in January.

Question 22

Do we need to run a tender?

Accepted Answer

In Singapore, usually not. We are the sole distributor of Stick ’Em here, and for a direct purchase above the threshold we will write you a sole distributor declaration letter for your finance office.

Question 23

Is there a discount for buying several sets?

Accepted Answer

Multi-set and pilot bundles bring the per-set cost down, and delivery inside Singapore is often waived. Charity, NGO and sponsorship requests are looked at one at a time and sometimes yes. Tell us the number of classrooms and the term.

Question 24

How long does delivery take?

Accepted Answer

Twelve to fourteen days for Singapore, tracked. International depends on the destination and we confirm it in the quote. Orders sometimes arrive as two parcels, because a Robotics Kit and a Sensor Kit can ship separately; that is normal and not a missing item.

Question 25

Do you ship internationally?

Accepted Answer

To many countries, yes, and ASEAN routes carry no tariff on educational goods of this kind. We cannot currently sell to individuals in the European Union, which is a customs and compliance problem at our end rather than yours, and we would rather you read that here than find it at checkout. Schools and distributors outside the EU should write to us and we will tell you what is possible from where you are.

Question 26

What happens if something arrives broken?

Accepted Answer

Write to founders@stickem.sg with your order and, if it is a board, the number printed on it. A good proportion of boards that look dead are a motor in the wrong port, which takes a minute to fix in the control app, and we will tell you if that is what it is. Genuine faults get replaced.

You do not need to be a robotics teacher.

Teachers rate the workshop 4.67. They rate their own confidence to plan a lesson 3.96.

One Classroom Set. Ten kits. Forty students.

Three steps, and the first one runs the week the set arrives.

Pick a lesson

Hand out the set

They get it wrong, then right

Lessons for the subject you actually teach

Build real answers to real problems

Visualise the world and abstract concepts

Build together, fail together, try again

Demystify emerging technologies

Make history and culture something you can hold

From simple robots to mission-ready machines

Build it, then stand up and present it

Design artifacts from the future

Three hours, and your teachers leave with a lesson they wrote.

About a tenth of conventional classroom robotics.

Classroom Set

Small Pilot Set

Robotics Kit

Sensor Kit

Getting it past your finance office

Same lesson, different order of magnitude.

micro:bit

Stick ’Em

LEGO Education

VEX IQ

The sentence we hear most often

Questions teachers ask

Teaching with it

The kit

Pricing and buying

Tell us about your school.