Danger: Zombies, Our HEXBUG Party! #HEXBUGHalloween

A few months ago, a HEXBUG Nano caught my family’s attention as it scurried across the floor of a restaurant we were dining at.  The entire time we ate, the little robotic creature made its way around tables, chairs, and around obstacles of all kinds.  By the time the meal was over, we were all cheering for it as it would momentarily get flipped over or trapped under the leg of a table or chair but then it would right itself and continue on its path. 

The amazing thing wasn’t that a little creature the size of a tube of chapstick kept our attention the whole meal, it’s how completely entertaining it was watching it move in such a life-like fashion.  In fact, my daughter thought that it was actually alive until we got up close to it and realized it was plastic.  The restaurant employees sent her home with it and she’s carried it in her purse ever since, bringing it out to play almost daily. 

Wanting to do something a bit different for our Halloween playdate, I was thrilled when I got a kit in the mail to host a HEXBUG Halloween party for our play group.  The kit arrived and I was seriously wowed by all the fun little goodies – so much so that I had to hide it until the day of the party to prevent little hands from digging through and playing with the pieces before all the friends could come over.

The night before the party, we set up some of the Glows in the Dark Habitat set and Elevation set {we left a whole set for the kids to add to the track during the party} and laid out the Hexbug Nano Mutant Zombies and the Hexbug Nano Galileo test tubes all ready for party guests to play with.  The funny thing is that even though I’m clearly out of the market demographic that HEXBUG falls in, I really had fun setting up the track and playing with the little creatures getting them all ready for the party.

Once the kids arrived, it was a flurry of activity as they came rushing in to see what this huge track was for and what all the zombie decorations were about.  Once they saw the HEXBUGS, the kids went crazy for them!  Even those that had never heard of them before or children that typically wouldn’t play with “bugs” were enchanted with these little robotic creatures like we were the first time we saw them.  Some kids, like my daughter, had played with Hexbugs before so they led the team and helped the others get started.  Once they had their bugs and knew how to turn them on and off, the real fun started. 

Picture the utter chaos of 16 kids crowded around the track with their creatures and setting them loose.  There was racing, there was missing bugs, and there was so much happy squealing that the video I took is almost entirely unwatchable.  Not surprisingly, the big hit of the party was the Mutant Zombie Hexbugs in their little coffins, which all the kids fell in love with and those were snatched up quickly. 

One thing to note is that having this many people around the Habitat did pose a bit of a problem in that the kids would lose track of their own bug as it raced around, battled, and maneuvered through the course.  Next time, I will definitely supply some small Halloween stickers so the kids can designate their little bug even after the playdate.  Luckily, the kids were easy going about whose bug was whose and they all played well with the Galileo and Zombie Hexbugs as they set up races, had battles, and watched as their bugs flipped themselves over and scurried along the habitat trail.

The party progressed and eventually costumes were brought out so the kids could play dress-up while they played with their bugs.  They played with the Hexbug Glows in the Dark so long that some of the batteries ran out, but luckily we had extras on hand so the fun could continue.  This was much appreciated as it gave us parents a chance to connect and relax while the kids kept entertained for so long.

While the kids certainly had a great time at the Hexbug party, you should have seen their faces when they were told they got to take one of them home to play with.  We even had a few extras from our kit, so the kids with siblings that weren’t there got to take one for them, too, which made them all really happy.  From how much fun we all had at the party, I would definitely host another HEXBUG playdate for our group throughout the year.  Even though the sets we played with are marketed towards Halloween, the cool thing is that they are also year-round fun.  If you wanted to, you could even remove the Glows in the Dark exoskeleton from the Mutant Zombie Hexbugs and they become regular bugs.  At least until they are “bit” again by another Mutant Zombie!
Our kit included: Hexbug Nano Glows in the Dark Habitat Sets, a HexBug Nano Elevation Glows-in-the-Dark Habitat Set, Hexbug Nano Glows-in-the-Dark Galileo Micro-Robotic Creatures, Limited Edition HexBug Nano Halloween Mutant Zombies, Hexbug Larva, Hex Bug Power Cells.  Most of these glow in the dark HEXBUG items can be found at numerous local retailers including Toys R Us and other local toys stores, but the limited edition HEXBUG Nano Halloween Zombies with the coffin-shaped packaging and a glow in the dark exoskeleton are found at Radio Shack for $5.99.

BUY IT:  Find out more at www.hexbug.com and see the whole line of micro robotic bugs, spiders, and more!

Complimentary party items were provided courtesy of Hexbug, through Mom Select and Mommy Parties.  All opinions are 100% ours and no form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this Rave Review.