Wirecutter is a modern-day Consumer Reports. They test and recommend an incredibly wide range of products including electronics, home and garden products, office products, and more.
Recently, they published an article on the best electronic kits for kids and beginners. Their three top recommendations are:
- SmartLab Toys Smart Circuits Games & Gadgets Electronics Lab. $30. Wirecutter says, “Our kid testers loved using Smart Circuits to make noises and conduct quick experiments. It offers the best combination of interesting projects and thorough instructions at a low price.” I’ve never seen this kit, but it does look pretty cool. It has a lot of five-star reviews on Amazon. Here’s a typical review:
- Elenco Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100. $21. Wirecutter sasy, “The Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 kit is durable, easy to use, and compatible with Elenco’s extensive Snap Circuits line. But the instructions aren’t as easy to follow.” I’ve purchased a Snap Circuit kit for my nephew and have one myself that I sometimes use for electronics demos. They’re pretty easy to use. The components really do just snap together. It costs less than the Smart Circuits kit and actually has a little bit better rating than the Smart Circuits kit (4.8/5 vs. 4.5/5).
- LittleBits Rule Your Room Kit. $53. Wirecutter says, “LittleBits allows you to combine an electronics kit with everyday materials like paper and boxes to make things that feel more like inventions than experiments. It’s the only kit we tested that has a mobile app.” I have no experience at all with Little Bits, but I do like the idea of being able to use the components in the kit with everyday materials.
There’s a lot more info in the Wirecutter article, so I’d encourage you to read the article before making a purchase.
Having said that, how many of you had electronics kits as a kid? What kind did you have? What kind of cool things did you make with it?
Dave New, N8SBE says
I had the Radio Shack 100-in-1 electronics kit. I tried looking for an image of one, and there are plenty of 100-in-1 kits, but not one exactly like the one I had. It was in a wooden tray, and had a number of components laid out on a fiber board panel, using spring clips and pre-cut and stripped wires of various lengths for connections.
It featured:
1 variable “tuning” capacitor
2 (count ’em!) transistors
1 solar cell
1 relay
1 speaker
1 crystal mic/earphone
1 cadmium cell in black sleeve (to use for those bedroom “burglar alarm” projects)
It had a project book with 100 projects to build and had descriptions of the circuit theory, which was mostly over my head at the time. I recall my favorite ones were a 2 transistor radio, and a wireless microphone that operated under part 15 rules on the AM band. I remember hooking up the stereo turntable and playing “DJ”.
My folks encouraged my interests, by getting me a Radio Shack multi-band SW receiver. I listened to Radio Moscow, Radio South Africa, the BBC and Voice of America. I came across signals that sounded like Donald Duck with a head cold, and asked my cousin in Iowa when I visited him what that was, because he had radios in his room. “Ham operators”, was the reply, and said I needed a BFO to hear them. I put together a 455 kHz oscillator on a piece of perf board, and used it to inject a beat frequency. It kind of worked, and wet my appetite for more.
Sometime after that, I started tearing apart an old TV set, to scavenge parts to build radio gear, and tried to build a transistorized regenerative receiver from Radio Shack parts and modules. It never worked, of course.
Later, in high school, I responded to an announcement that there was to be a ‘radio club’ meeting after school. Thinking that I could get a license to be a DJ, I showed up, only to find out it wasn’t that kind of radio.
Some other day, the rest of the story…
Garrett Smith says
Wow! I’m 25, and just yesterday was looking at different kits online , to begin learning this awesome skill. Had the thought “ I wonder which one of these are good….” and read this today! Thanks for reporting