Introducing children to electronics?

the "skwatch tracker" Ben Heck assisted with immediately comes to mind. Its one of those things that is really simple at its base, but you could really go nuts with it too; all sorts of sensors and gadgets could be added. You could even work your way up to building battle bots on whatever scale youre comfortable with.

minecraft might also be a fun way to get into logic gates and circuits. Ive never really played it because I hate playing video games, but ive seen some of the contraptions that can be made. I must admit, some of the things people make in it are actually impressive.

maybe its  bit advanced, but you could make a little remote controlled device that plays fart sounds. think remote triggered electronic woopie cushion. As an added bonus, when his teachers inevitably confiscate it, he will have to make another one. This will be a great opportunity for you to get him thinking about design analysis. "how was the teacher able to confiscate the device? What can be done to make it harder for the teacher to find the device next time?"

I guess that would be my biggest point. Dont just build something. Build something with a purpose. Think about what you want him to learn from building whatever it is youre building. As one of my EE professors would often say "It doesnt take an IQ of 2 above a rock to solder components together. Engineering is about insight."

Robert Crawford wrote:

 

... As one of my EE professors would often say "It doesnt take an IQ of 2 above a rock to solder components together. Engineering is about insight."

That comment must predate SMT (especially BGA and PoP) and RoHS

Have only breafly looked at "skwatch tracker"  episode.

Looks like one might be able to adapt some ideas here.

My first thought was more on building "blockes" with for example a LED, one block with battery, another with switch etc.

Then have somekind of playfield where the blocks can be used.

Sound / light and maybe somekind of motion could be "action" blockes.

The block themself coulb be transparant units with the electronics inside them.

I've seen kits like these before - like Legos with electronics. Might want to check out Amazon.com

Speaking of Legos, they've advanced quite a bit from when I was a kid and we could not afford real Legos.

Lots of programmable stuff, robotics, etc. Might be good for children too!

I had a few of those Radioshack Electronics Learning Labs/Centers, or whatever name they were called. I didn’t know exactly why the parts did what they did, but it was my first step into engineering.

C

Snap circuits are a good start.

My son recently turned 9. When he was 8 i got one of those 150 in 1 electronic labs with the spring clips. Hav't messed with that much. But the other day i gave him his own set of tools to play with and he went to work taking aprat old electronic toys to see how they worked. As i recall that was the same way i got stated. When i learned how to use a screw driver i stole one from my dad and start seeing how all my toys worked. I quickly pisked up on the basics of DC and was soldering by the time i was 8.

Start simple and work your way up. My son has an interest in electronics but only as far as tinkering. He doesn't care for actually sitting down and making anything of interest. He has his Legos and K'nex for that. He's more mechanically minded then electrically minded. So find what suites your kid.

The Make website has several beginner or introductory kits for electronics, Arduino and just about anything else you might find interesting.

I encourage everyone with children to subscribe to Make Magazine and make a big deal about looking at the many projects and select at least one per issue to build with your kids.  You will all have a fun time and you might spark that fire in most of use to build neat things.

Just a thought,

DAB

I made a couple of cristal radio's with my kids, about ten years agoo.

You can download a document describing the radios here:

http://www.agri-vision.nl/CMS/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=69&func=fileinfo&id=2

Unfortunately its in dutch, but maybe the pictures can inspire you.

Gerrit.

I encourage everyone with children to subscribe to Make Magazine

fully agree!

I first learned to solder around that age. A soldering iron can be dangerous, but kids can be amazingly perceptive, and once you get close to a hot soldering iron, you can tell it is hot. Before long you can tell it is up to temperature simply by how it smells. Two things small children have on their side is eyesight and dexterity, the two main skills needed for good soldering! I would say make something simple and see how it goes.

I agree with Make Magazine too. If you teach kids how to create, how to think and how to actually do things, then you have given them great skills which they will use throughout their life.