ROBOTS are helping dads get more involved with their children.

The Rowdy Robots initiative, run by Notts County Council, was piloted at the William Lilley Infant and Nursery School in Halls Road, Stapleford.

The course involved making circuits, switches and toys, with the aim of getting dads and grandfathers involved in helping children to learn.

It was deemed such a success it will now be introduced across the county.

Lucy Glenn, from Notts County Council's Adult and Community Learning Service, said courses have already been set up in Broxtowe, Mansfield and Bassetlaw.

"The Rowdy Robots course held at William Lilley was a pilot to see how well the project would be received," she said.

"Due to its popularity, and the benefits that have been reported from dads who have attended, we now have more courses running in Broxtowe, and also some in Bassetlaw and Mansfield.

"We are also hoping to run them in other areas in the county and are currently training more tutors to be able to deliver Rowdy Robots."

The course, paid for by the Big Lottery Fund, runs after school from 5pm once a week.

At the end of the six-week course each participant got to take home a robot that moved backwards and forwards.

Julian Fennell, area operations manager at the Royal Mencap Society, and a school governor, went to the sessions with his six-year-old son Harley. He said: "It was a fantastic course and well worth taking part and I would welcome other similar projects," he said. "Building robots and getting involved in electronics was out of our comfort zone but we found it fantastic in terms of working together to produce a product and spending quality time together, which fathers and grandfathers often do not get."