SnegurochkaL Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Hi, I am going to start this post and hope some people will contribute also. My second daughter is in a circuit building:) She likes SNAPS and few other available resources. I discovered EEME last year and my older kids really enjoyed their projects. Now my youngest daughers having so much fun so I decided to share info is somebody might be interested. EEME http://www.eeme.co/dashbrd There are free short lessons(even 4 years old can sit still for 15-20 minutes). You do not need any resistors, LED, wires unless you want to build a physical vs. virtual circuit. You can subscribe to their kits if you want all part to be delivered by mail (once per month). Otherwise, you can just complete projects (instructions are free to use) with part you have at home. According to my husband who has BS in EE, the information is simplified but I do not think you need to use complicated language with very young kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 This looks great! We may consider it for ds8, who loves all things engineering and I've been struggling to come up with gift ideas. It's a little expensive over time but less than we might spend on a summer camp. Speaking of which, for anyone in CO, summer program at the School of Mines: http://students.csmspace.com Ds8 was able to attend a half-day week-long program and *loved* it. There are elementary, middle and high school programs. I think sign-up is in March and it was basically all filled when I came across it last spring; ds got in off a wait list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnegurochkaL Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 I think some parts you can find in other kits( my kids used one we have for Arduino projects) and buy other parts from electronic parts on-line store. His kits are convenient, but not proprietery:) My kids insisted on getting another resource, but it is not intended to use by really young kids (it has a magnetic ink pen). My oldest children paid with their own money to get it for Christmas (my husband was very skeptical about it). Anyway the name if the kit is "Circuit Scribe" We have not tried it ourselves but it should do what it says. :) http://www.amazon.com/Circuit-Scribe-Basic-Book-Silver/dp/B00OJYTV8A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418149659&sr=8-1&keywords=circuit+scribe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squawky Acres Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Oooh, this looks like exactly the right thing. My 6-year-old loves his Snap Circuits, but also enjoys taking apart real electronics and has been asking when he will be old enough for "electricity lessons" as if they can be had for a fee just like violin or ballet lessons. This would seem a lot more real to him. If the minimum recommended age is 7, I would think they would be fine for a gifted 6-year-old? I'm sorry I don't have any more ideas for resources. A friend had also mentioned that Magic School Bus had an electricity kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 My little engineer is getting his own soldering iron this Christmas, along with several inexpensive little kits to make a radio, a sound detecting car, and a phone bug (for use in approved situations only LOL). DH is also pulling out some old electronics for him to disassemble and repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I think some parts you can find in other kits( my kids used one we have for Arduino projects) and buy other parts from electronic parts on-line store. His kits are convenient, but not proprietery:) I think I'm going to try to buy the parts myself for the first few projects (with all my spare time this week :tongue_smilie:). It's a little unclear which parts I'll need, but poking around on amazon, things look pretty inexpensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I having difficulty identifying what capacitors are shown here (green with gray stripe) and here (blue with gray stripe, see picture for Lesson 6). If anyone who knows how to figure this out and is really bored, I'd appreciate any help! Thx! Maybe there's something else of the right type that also might work if I can't find the exact ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I having difficulty identifying what capacitors are shown here (green with gray stripe) and here (blue with gray stripe, see picture for Lesson 6)Capacitors are color coded too. The below link would help.https://www.pc-control.co.uk/capacitors.htm Else bring the pictures to an electronics shop like RadioShack and they can match for you. Usually capacitors doesn't need to be an exact match but you do need a close match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I having difficulty identifying what capacitors are shown here (green with gray stripe) and here (blue with gray stripe, see picture for Lesson 6). If anyone who knows how to figure this out and is really bored, I'd appreciate any help! Thx! Maybe there's something else of the right type that also might work if I can't find the exact ones? I couldn't find the caps you linked to, but I would just email Jack at EEME and ask him. He's a very nice guy and happy to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I couldn't find the caps you linked to, but I would just email Jack at EEME and ask him. He's a very nice guy and happy to help. I just found it, but I'm not sure there is color coding for electrolytic capacitors. In my experience, those caps have the farads printed directly on it. If you want to replicate the experiment in real life you can go to Amazon and buy a box of assorted caps organized into little bags and experiment with different ones. Or just ask Jack, the EEME guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I think I'm going to try to buy the parts myself for the first few projects (with all my spare time this week :tongue_smilie:). It's a little unclear which parts I'll need, but poking around on amazon, things look pretty inexpensive. We just graduated from Charles Platt's Make: Electronics so if you need help sourcing components or just have questions, feel free to post here or PM me. Amazon is actually great for this purpose, and is my first stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I decided to buy an assortment (this one) - we will see what happens. It shouldn't take ds8 very long to get through the lessons that I've looked at so far. The hard part is saving it for Christmas :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Hi, I am going to start this post and hope some people will contribute also. My second daughter is in a circuit building:) She likes SNAPS and few other available resources. I discovered EEME last year and my older kids really enjoyed their projects. Now my youngest daughers having so much fun so I decided to share info is somebody might be interested. EEME http://www.eeme.co/dashbrd There are free short lessons(even 4 years old can sit still for 15-20 minutes). You do not need any resistors, LED, wires unless you want to build a physical vs. virtual circuit. You can subscribe to their kits if you want all part to be delivered by mail (once per month). Otherwise, you can just complete projects (instructions are free to use) with part you have at home. According to my husband who has BS in EE, the information is simplified but I do not think you need to use complicated language with very young kids. I wish they sold one big box of everything you need. Or had a list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I wish they sold one big box of everything you need. Or had a list. I don't know how accurate my selections are, but so far my amazon cart has the following: BB400 Solderless Plug-in BreadBoard, 400 tie-points, 4 power rails, 3.3 x 2.2 x 0.3in (84 x 55 x 9mm) Black Red Cable Plastic 3 x1.5V AA Batteries Cell Box Holder Wosang Solderless Flexible Breadboard Jumper Wires M/M 100pcs sunkee 12 Value (1uf-470UF) 120 pcs Electrolytic Capacitors kit,50V1UF,each 10 pcs microtivity IL188 5mm Assorted Clear LED w/ Resistors (8 Colors, Pack of 80) RadioShack 46-Range Digital Multimeter w PC Interface E-Projects - 1k Ohm Resistors - 1/4 Watt - 5% - 1K (100 Pieces) E-Projects - 100 Ohm Resistors - 1/4 Watt - 5% - 100R (100 Pieces) I couldn't find the shorter wires but I don't imagine it matters. This list totals $66 with prime shipping. I like the idea of having more than a few of everything so that ds can experiment a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I don't know how accurate my selections are, but so far my amazon cart has the following: BB400 Solderless Plug-in BreadBoard, 400 tie-points, 4 power rails, 3.3 x 2.2 x 0.3in (84 x 55 x 9mm) Black Red Cable Plastic 3 x1.5V AA Batteries Cell Box Holder Wosang Solderless Flexible Breadboard Jumper Wires M/M 100pcs sunkee 12 Value (1uf-470UF) 120 pcs Electrolytic Capacitors kit,50V1UF,each 10 pcs microtivity IL188 5mm Assorted Clear LED w/ Resistors (8 Colors, Pack of 80) RadioShack 46-Range Digital Multimeter w PC Interface E-Projects - 1k Ohm Resistors - 1/4 Watt - 5% - 1K (100 Pieces) E-Projects - 100 Ohm Resistors - 1/4 Watt - 5% - 100R (100 Pieces) I couldn't find the shorter wires but I don't imagine it matters. This list totals $66 with prime shipping. I like the idea of having more than a few of everything so that ds can experiment a bit. Thank you so much for compiling this!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Maybe I should switch out the two types of resistors for a kit instead. http://www.amazon.com/Sparkfun-500-4W-Resistor-Kit/dp/B008MH97I4/ref=sr_1_2?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1418511140&sr=1-2&keywords=resistor+kit+1%2F4w I am tempted to buy more than one breadboard, either to avoid taking things apart in order to build more, or for another sibling. I wonder if ds6 is too young. There are always the ds11s... and there are enough of the other parts, except the battery pack and breadboard, for several kids LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I am tempted to buy more than one breadboard, either to avoid taking things apart in order to build more, or for another sibling.I have the big breadboard which has four pairs of rows. (ETA: similar to the Elenco one Daijobu linked) But siblings do fight over it. I'm going to get a smaller breadboard for my younger from the local electronics stores. ETA: The one I have is 3M 336 solderless breadboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I don't know how accurate my selections are, but so far my amazon cart has the following: BB400 Solderless Plug-in BreadBoard, 400 tie-points, 4 power rails, 3.3 x 2.2 x 0.3in (84 x 55 x 9mm) Black Red Cable Plastic 3 x1.5V AA Batteries Cell Box Holder Wosang Solderless Flexible Breadboard Jumper Wires M/M 100pcs sunkee 12 Value (1uf-470UF) 120 pcs Electrolytic Capacitors kit,50V1UF,each 10 pcs microtivity IL188 5mm Assorted Clear LED w/ Resistors (8 Colors, Pack of 80) RadioShack 46-Range Digital Multimeter w PC Interface E-Projects - 1k Ohm Resistors - 1/4 Watt - 5% - 1K (100 Pieces) E-Projects - 100 Ohm Resistors - 1/4 Watt - 5% - 100R (100 Pieces) I couldn't find the shorter wires but I don't imagine it matters. This list totals $66 with prime shipping. I like the idea of having more than a few of everything so that ds can experiment a bit. Your breadboard does look small. It's great for little projects that you want to save, but your kids might soon outgrow it with more complicated circuits. If you want "room to grow" you might consider this one. And I'd buy one for each kid so they don't need to take turns. When you are starting out, I think it's a great idea to get an assortment of resistors as it's much cheaper than buying them one size at a time. I also love how "Joe Knows" are so nicely organized into a box. It makes everything easier to find. I also use the jumper wires you ordered, but I also use these Elenco wires because they lie flush to the breadboard and make debugging much, much easier. I even bought additional yellow and orange ones because they are just the right size to connect rows to the power rails. Don't forget if you don't already own one: a pair of needle nose pliers and a pair of wire cutters. These will make wiring up circuits much easier. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I am tempted to buy more than one breadboard, either to avoid taking things apart in order to build more, or for another sibling. If your student wants to make their prototype permanent, you can actually buy perf boards that are oriented like solderless breadboards. They come in different shapes and sizes, or you can cut them down to size. This makes it easy to solder the components in place just as you have them on the prototyping board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 One more must-have tool: an automatic wire stripper. Ours is similar to this one which we call "the dinosaur." We also have this sort of multi-function cutting/stripping tool and we DO NOT LIKE this at all. When we switched to the dinosaur, we were amazed at how much easier it is to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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