G+_Jason Perry Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 My 4 year old son, has an interest in making. Little bits has a recommend age of 8. Does anyone have suggestions for a young want to be maker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Dan Hockey Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 It all boils down to.... how fast is he able to learn new things? The recommend age is just a suggestion for the average person. Start with really simple circuits and see how long it takes for him to understand it. Some people learn faster than others. Some have the ability be a genius in one task or subject and be totally helpless in everything else. I rebuilt my first lawn mower engine when I was 8. My dad was an airplane mechanic in the USAF. I was in my mid 20's in collage before I finally figured out algebra and then physics. In the end you will have to be the judge of how much and how fast he can absorb the information. Also have a look at tronclub.com - Tron-Club™ Subscription Circuit Building Kits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 Snap Circuits are fun. We got a set for my oldest a couple years ago (now 8). My 3yo likes to join in - probably mostly to annoy his sister. It's a fun, easy place to start on logical circuits and really hard to mess anything up. It would be fun to add an Arduino for a bit more capability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Perry Posted May 6, 2017 Author Share Posted May 6, 2017 Ben Reese?, that looks like a good alternative. And after you mention your little one playing with them it might be the better one in my case. I think 2 is a little young to play with little bits, and I know she will want to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_David Peach Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 Also don't forget about Lego. Not a tech tool, but the concept of building something bigger from smaller parts is fundamental to what we are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 That's a good point - especially since there are a lot of Lego sets with tech in them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Lance Foxcoonbit2019 Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 Lego has good starter kit that you what to look at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Perry Posted May 6, 2017 Author Share Posted May 6, 2017 We have Duplo right now because there are too many kids trying to put small toys in their mouth right now. We also have a bunch of magformers, they are a big hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Tony Martin Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 Check out Makedo (toolkit for building with cardboard) https://www.make.do/ Squishy Circuits (make circuits with playdough) http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/index.htm Kiwi Crate (cool maker/science/engineering monthly subscription box for kids with a different project each month and different boxes for age ranges 3-4, 5-8, and 9-16). http://www.kiwicrate.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Marsh Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 I started with my Radio Shack 1001 experiments kit at about 6. 4 should be fine, but watch out for "undocumented experiments". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Perry Posted May 7, 2017 Author Share Posted May 7, 2017 Jason Marsh?, I think back to what I did as a kid and remember all my u documented experiments, that's why I want to teach him the rules of the road as soon as possible and give him an outlet that will result in fewer instances of things being ripped apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Perry Posted May 7, 2017 Author Share Posted May 7, 2017 Jason Marsh?, I think I have the same book buried somewhere. Hmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Marsh Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 As long as he's not using a loose appliance cord to "power" things like I did he should be fine. Oddly enough, I survived all my adventures without injury. Well, there was one burn from a capacitor. My brother and I used to charge them up, wrap the leads around the sides, and then toss them to unsuspecting friends. It was like a hot potato game, sort of... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Perry Posted May 8, 2017 Author Share Posted May 8, 2017 I like how you play hot potato. My most memorable was bridging the brushes on a motor. It was a good enough shock to make my arms fly out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Marsh Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 Never had any mishaps like that one, but I did have a hydraulic pump that wouldn't shut off after turning it on. Had a thermal breaker on the armature. Brush debris formed a bridge between motor windings and the breaker wiring. Once energized it would run right past the high pressure limit because it was powering it's own relay. Had to cycle power off for the whole tank to stop it. Pressure relief valve got a good workout somewhere north of 4000 psi or so. Sarge thought I was off my rocker when I brought the pump in to service it. He thought there was no way I could be right, insisting the pump couldn't make itself run. He shouldn't have questioned me. A year later the tables were turned and I was his boss. He was on the phone with HR and got himself reassigned pretty quickly 8^) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts