STEM kits /toys please help me

[visitor]

Dear all,

 

We are going to do more STEM this year with our boys. They are 8 and 6. I want to make a STEM workplace for them. They love to do STEM. I need your help because I am not educated in STEM :) it is something very new for me.

 

We are already going to do:

 

Phyton and scratch programming

Lego wedo 2.0

Lego education 9212

Strawbees

 

This year I want them to learn how electricity works .

 

I am searching for a good:

 

- electricity kit

- solar system kit

- challeging engineering kits 

 

Can you recommand me something?

 

My oldest boy DS8 loves engineering toys/kits . He already has lego and kapla but wants to do more and different . Something challeging ... I am willing to invest more in this because it is his passion. I do have a baby and a todller I dont want to have to small pieces with this kits . 

 

DS 6 years loves robots. I think Lego wedo 2.0 will be just fine . But I dont know if there is something which he can do indepedent and is more cheaper :) Robots and programming are his passions . 

 

In general they both love robots,mathematics, engineering and programming. 

 

Thanks in advanced...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HomeAgain]

We have Snap Circuits, but after seeing Little Bits at a STEM program, I wish we had invested in those instead.  They're for slightly older kids (inch sized pieces) and come with an educational booklet/cards on steering the conversation toward how things work.  However, to complement our Snap Circuits I got Circuit Maze, a ThinkFun game/exercise where you have to create a workable circuit using the parameters they give you(i.e. number of pieces, which kind, and placement on the board)

 

FWIW, while it is nice to have a variety, STEM-marketed tools are often better as the kids get older and have the ability to work with small pieces, along with a background in logical thinking and basic skills/information that they can bring to the table and use to enhance the program they're working with.  There is very little marketed to the 6-8yo crowd that addresses that- usually it's a limited program or plug-n-play technology.  Our criteria for STEM is "does it make my child think?", which yes, is simplistic, but it also opens the doors to foundation tools needed now for the good stuff later.

[ExcitedMama]

The Foos is a great app to teach coding and DS loves it. He is also all about robots so over the last couple of years we have bought the Wonder robots and Cozmo. They both teach coding but Cozmo has AI so he is a far more interesting robot. Does Wedo teach coding? Or is it more about putting it together? Lego also has Mindstorms which DS has been begging for ever since he saw it years ago but I read it could be challenging so we have held off for now. That might be a good fit for your older child.

[EKT]

I have not bought this yet, but I'm eyeing this book, STEAM Kids. (They also make STEAM Kids Christmas.) I can't speak to the content yet, but it looks like the books are full of project ideas. Might be a good resource?

[mytwomonkeys]

My son has really enjoyed any of the kits by Meccano: http://www.meccano.com

[mumto2]

Have you looked at Timberdoodle for ideas?https://timberdoodle.com. They generally have a great assortment of kits etc.

Edited July 9, 2017 by mumto2

[wathe]

Consider Lego education simple and powered machines.  A lot of value and a decent mount of challenge.

Also consider Lego Technic sets, or bags of random Technic parts.  We scored a bagful at the local thrift shop and have gotten a ton of mileage out of them.  Lego sells motors a la cart.  A bin of technic parts paired with any of Yoshihito Isogawa's books will add enough challenge to keep even the most advance 8 year old busy for a long time.