Cheltenham Science Group is launching a robot club at their science centre in Coronation Square next month.

Thanks to funding from the Comino Foundation, Cheltenham Science Group (CSG) recently acquired some programmable Lego and robots.

Dave Watson, director, said, "We knew that the kit would be popular with visitors but we were overwhelmed with quite how much.

On Wednesday 14th February, 132 people came to the science centre to play; a third of those arrived first thing in the morning. We tried to make sure that everybody had an opportunity to play and are very grateful for everyone's patience. We hope that this new robot club will allow more people to have the time to fully explore the possibilities."

Since launching last April, the science centre has been open from 2pm until 5pm on Friday afternoons. In January, CSG started repeating their drop-in STEM club during some of these sessions. This is set to continue with the addition of the robot club on the alternate Fridays (March 2nd & 16th; April 20th; May 4th & 18th; June 15th & 29th; July 6th & 20th). Both of these activities are included in the standard admission (Free with an annual family pass (£20 for a family of five for 12 months) or £2 per person over 4 or £7.50 per family (up to 5 people))

The schedule of drop-in STEM clubs for the summer term has also just been revealed and will include exploring phases of the moon, modelling microbes and making conductive putty. Families can pop into the science centre at any time between 10am and 4pm during the Saturday sessions or between 2pm and 5pm on Friday afternoons.

• Saturday 3rd and Friday 9th March: Soap - what is soap and why is it so important for us to clean our hands properly?

• Saturday 17th and Friday 23rd March: Sport Relief - we will be joining in with Sport Relief by investigating exercise science - be warned that kids and grown-ups might be getting active!

• Saturday 21st & Friday 27th April: Moon phases - to celebrate International Astronomy Day we will be discovering why the moon appears to change shape

• Saturday 5th May: Modelling microbes - use recycled materials to make your own virus, bacteria or fungi and discover why they are vital for our survival

• Saturday 19th & Friday 25th May: Milk Magic

• Saturday 16th & Friday 22nd June: Conductive putty - compare different play dough recipes - why do some conduct electricity and others don't?

• Friday 13th & Saturday 21st July: Joints - our hands are amazing! Help us to prove it by making a model of your hand with working finger joints.

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Picture Credits: Cheltenham Science Group