An interactive educational system for elementary school age children is provided. There is a base module having a housing that has an outer configuration and may take a variety of shapes. The housing includes retaining sockets used to retain arms, legs, or other accessories or to the system. The base module includes a transceiver, a group of one or more sensors and effectors, control circuitry that operates the system, and a power supply which powers the module. Data from the sensors and effectors is displayed on the video display and passed wireless to a smart device hosting an interactive application. The base module has a wireless transceiver for receiving control data from the smart device and sending sensor/effector data and base module state information to the smart device. The sensor group includes various sensors such as a temperature sensor, a light sensor and an accelerometer.