The 7 Best Circuit Boards For Kids
This wiki has been updated 17 times since it was first published in October of 2019. Building some basic circuitry is a great way for children to become familiar with foundational engineering concepts. Pre-made kits come packaged with all the parts you need and step-by-step instructions for a variety of fun experiments. They’re also designed to be very safe, although parental supervision is required when handling dangerous components like spinning motors. When users buy our independently chosen editorial choices, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
1. Snap Circuits LIGHT Exploration Kit
2. Playz Electrical Circuit Board Engineering Kit
3. Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100
Editor's Notes
January 31, 2020:
Educational toys like circuit kits are perfect for keeping kids productive without them even realizing it. They’re also quite easy to understand thanks to clearly outlined instructions, often in the form of colorful diagrams. It’s ingenious to let kids play with a circuit board kit and gradually learn electrical engineering concepts that may otherwise be intimidating when presented in the form of a textbook or course.
I didn’t choose any microcontroller kits for this list because they are often too advanced for young children and potentially dangerous. They also require external tools and basic computer programming knowledge. Alternatively, snap circuit kits are the perfect way to get exposed to circuit building. Wires are protected and the boards are structured so that components can simply snap into place. This creates a level of abstraction that kids can get quickly familiar with.
While snap circuits kits compose the majority of products on this list, there are also variations of this concept like ThinkFun Circuit Maze that stray even further from traditional electronics. This maze game is an interesting twist on circuit building, as it uses electronic components to form the basis puzzle. Instead of using a traditional breadboard, a blocky grid is used.
4. SmartLab Toys Smart Circuits
5. ThinkFun Circuit Maze
6. Snap Circuits BRIC: Structures
7. Pantheon Circuits for Kids
Building PCs, remodeling, and cooking since he was young, quasi-renowned trumpeter Christopher Thomas traveled the USA performing at and organizing shows from an early age. His work experiences led him to open a catering company, eventually becoming a sous chef in several fine LA restaurants. He enjoys all sorts of barely necessary gadgets, specialty computing, cutting-edge video games, and modern social policy. He has given talks on debunking pseudoscience, the Dunning-Kruger effect, culinary technique, and traveling. After two decades of product and market research, Chris has a keen sense of what people want to know and how to explain it clearly. He delights in parsing complex subjects for anyone who will listen -- because teaching is the best way to ensure that you understand things yourself.