What are some recommended economical options to introduce 8 & 11 year old children to electronics and coding in a structured manner please?
I was looking at circuitmess but wasn’t sure if they’re worth it
STEM Project Kits for Kids
nsavi on 28/12/2024 - 14:51
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What about their skill levels?
Also, what are the parent's skill levels, interests, hand on/off - that is, expect the kit to teach your kids or you teach your kids?
We've got Clip Circuits & add ons and it's fun for the kids but you need to sit down and work through the theory with them. We got it free on Marketplace.
We've also got older hobby electronics kits (not the simple clip types) which I'll go through with the kids as they get older.
The comment about Lego, etc., is relevant. These are jump off points. Find an interest and go from there. E.g. one of my interests…
I'm working on Lego Technic sets from 1978 on wards to say 2016, when they became less functional and more aimed at adult displayers. I'm doing this for my interest but also one way to get the kids interested in practical STEM. So far I've built with my 6 year old son and gone through with his 8 year old sister a forklift using rack and pinion steering & also to raise/lower forks with gear reduction. Next, we'll work on three different tractors and PTOs and understand the difference between the models and how they compare to a real life one. (I previously built the 1985 model, but will take it apart and rebuild it with the kids). We've also examined blow up diagrams of combine harvesters and how they replace individual manual functions. We'll eventually work on a classic car chassis, although my kids already understand differentials, various suspension systems and internal combustion engines.
Recently I built the Mars Rover and we've watched the NASA doco on how it was built and the objectives of the mission, and how it was deployed, thought about how it might be powered (my son had debates with other kids on the pros and cons of different ways of powering it), etc.
We've built a number of other Technic sets, but I love the earliest ones for their simplicity and beauty and educational value.
Coding just use Scratch or Khan Academy online (or any of those other freebies). Coding is inherently a waste of time in those programs anyway tbh. Better they learn basics of HTML to at least be useful in high school.
https://www.khanacademy.org/computing
Electronics - you can buy cheap beginners kits at Jaycar. School equivalent kits are stupid expensive. You may find some old stock on FB
Look for Snap, Elenco
Anything at Jaycar is probably 1/4 the price online, if you can wait a few weeks for shipping from China.
Very true. Or electronics and radio clubs sell kits etc too, often very cheap to encourage juniors
Buy them a crystal radio set. They'll learn soldering skills as well getting some exercise climbing a tree to hang the aerial. It's powered by electromagnetic waves, so you don't even need to get out the eneloops to power it. This will teach both STEM and the subtle art of being a tightwad.
Turing tumble
How enthusiastic are they? The hard part is motivation. Do they enjoy Lego, for example? remote control toys?
Do they like to build things? Like whatever the modern equivalent of model planes is :-)
Have they ever killed something by pulling it apart to see how it works?
Best if you can leverage off existing interests.
What about their skill levels? If they are A-students in maths, they may be ready to learn some Python.