Arduino Starter for an 7.5 Year Old? Yay or Nay? Which? What for?
December 10, 2024 4:53 PM   Subscribe

It's mid-December and I got nothing for my 7.5 year old. I'm completely stumped. He's kind of past the toy age. I likes Snap Circuit. I was thinking maybe an Arduino starter kit of some sort? But what would he do with it? And what kit would I get? Do you have a kid this age who Arduinos? What do they do? I am also willing to hear "No, this is to young/a bad idea/not a good gift" etc. etc. Please come give your opinions/thoughts.

My son likes snap circuits though he's mainly done the projects in the books not built his own.

He took a Lego Robotics course and did some programming that way. I believe they use scratch. He's also learning a little Scratch coding at school.

I don't think I would like him soldering and I don't think I have a soldering iron anywhere accessible (like maybe it's buried deep in my storage area somewhere).

He's interested in animals, music, camping. general science, history, detective stuff, camping, reading.

Do you think he might enjoy a starter Arduino kit and what might be some good starter projects he could build with one that I could help him with? What would be a good starter kit? Do you have a kid this age who enjoys Arduino? Or is this too young and not fun?

Feel free to make other gift suggestions. I am way stumped.
posted by If only I had a penguin... to Computers & Internet (18 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
There's a lot of Arduino easy-to-assemble projects that, by their nature, come with a fully functional Arduino inside for future advanced building. Searching "Arduino video game kit" brings up a bunch of options for building your own video game system. For the most part they use breadboards (you stick wires into holes) and/or simple tools you might have around your house. But I'm sure these child-focused kits are not going to require soldering at all, they'll be breadboard-related.

When you say they like music, are they a musician? "Arduino music kit" gets you synthesizery things.

Note that you usually need a computer to program the Arduino, how computer savvy are they? I'm not too familiar with snap circuit, whether that needs a computer or not. I think Lego Robotics does?

7.5 might be a little too young to do the Arduino kits themselves -- but it would be a good parent/child project to do together, and then you'd also get ideas for the next thing too!

Edit just to add: I do think a kid-focused Arduino kit, where you follow directions with parts provided, is probably a logical next step after snap circuits and lego robotics -- it's closer to really-real electronics projects, which may still be a few years off but a few kits between now and then will get them the skills to move in that direction.
posted by AzraelBrown at 5:03 PM on December 10, 2024


The official Arduino Starter Kit is a work of art (if extremely expensive) but maybe a little advanced for a 7½ year old. Maybe something micro:bit related? (I'd recommend Little Robot Friends, but they are made by friends of mine and tend to be even more expensive than Arduino kit)

Arduino is a little old hat. As a former reseller, Arduino went from "we bought them by the case, couldn't keep them in stock" in 2016-7 to "we might be able to sell the minimum order quantity in a couple of years". They require a working computer to tether/program. micro:bits have more options, and are beginning to be taught to kids in th 8-10 range and beyond.

If there's something to plug a USB controller into, a Makey Makey can be fun for making silly interactions. No programming required (or with the newer versions, even possible)
posted by scruss at 5:12 PM on December 10, 2024 [4 favorites]


Just a followup: I am seeing a lot of soldering in the kits that seem kid-related, which surprises me, so I may be leading you down the wrong path
posted by AzraelBrown at 5:16 PM on December 10, 2024


Just off the top of my head:
Guinness Book of World Records
Captain Underpants (or whatever this type of comic book is current today)
Build a radio
Telescope and star charts
Magic kit
Maps
Raspberry Pi for kids
Library dates for you both
Magnifying glass
Are they into sports? If yes, go to a minor or major league game
Concert tickets
posted by ashbury at 5:31 PM on December 10, 2024


You said it's okay to make other suggestions, so:

That's early to stop playing, but if he's done with toys, so be it. I'd focus on getting some age-appropriate gifts that encourage creativity and curiosity in other ways. For example: A microscope with a kit of things to look at. A compass. A UV flashlight and/or a really good headlight. Walkie-Talkies for playing detectives. An animal-based experience such as a day volunteering at a shelter (with you), going dog sledding, a horse riding lesson, etc. Depending on your location, there might be a dog training class for kids happening, or maybe you have some alpacas to pet in your area. Perhaps a subscription to a kids' nature magazine or something like KiwiCo. A cookbook. Birdhouse to decorate and seed, plus a book on identifying common birds. For stocking stuffers, a tiny spy camera or a spy pen.
posted by toucan at 5:40 PM on December 10, 2024


Best answer: These are spendy but I like the look of Spintronics and Infento.

In general, The Kids Should See This gift guide is a great resource.
posted by caek at 5:43 PM on December 10, 2024 [7 favorites]


My 7.5 year old who also loves animals, science, etc., is getting snap circuits, a couple of stem building kits where things move mechanically, a ticket to the zoo, a ticket to the aquarium, a ticket to snow tubing (we're printing out cute tickets for him to open but family is just giving us $ for it), t shirts with various animals, a kit to sew animals for kids (I figured it's a good skill to learn and good for motor skills). I know it's a lot, but we have family who insist on buying him stuff so those are the things we assigned for them to get.

This past year he's really enjoyed the crunch labs box subscription, a kit to build solar powered robots and things that move in the sun, and we had fun with a small electronic microscope. We also considered a national geographic kids subscription but will wait till next year. We considered ski lessons as a gift but will also wait for that.

We also have a chemistry kit for kids that we haven't had a chance to open yet but I bet that will be cool.

A friend of his who is 7 does some Python programming with his dad after he got a Python for Kids book.

Also, not related to your kid's interests, but my son LOVES Where's Waldo books and and mazes so he's getting some of those.
posted by dabadoo at 6:17 PM on December 10, 2024 [1 favorite]


A friend gave my kids an Adafruit Circuit set years ago. I thought it was a great gift but neither of my kids got into it. We made a couple of things with it together and now it sits in its case under the TV. I think with other kids it could work it just didn't with mine.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:54 PM on December 10, 2024


a kit to sew animals for kids

I like this. It often feels like girls are getting exposed to more things that were traditionally kept for boys, but boys don't get exposed as much to things traditionally assigned to girls. (No idea if that's true for OP's kid, obviously.)

But other suggestions: Grand Illusions, linked here recently, has some cool things. And there are some companies that make pretty cool crafty kits, such as Klutz and Djeco.
posted by trig at 7:54 PM on December 10, 2024


Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. That list that caek posted is fantastic. He has a bunch of that stuff already, but I think I'm eyeing the Spintronics (we have a Turing Tumble, which I actually bought for myself when he was too young for it, and now that he's old enough for it he's been using it, too). I was debating the Makey Makey but it looks like that has to be hooked up to a computer and I don't want to have to share my laptop, so not that.

Just to clarify, he's definitely not to old to play. I just meant things that feel like "toys" he's mostly grown out of and isn't interested in. He literally came home annoyed after spending the day with his grandmother on Sunday because she was trying to figure out what he wanted for Christmas and he said "She just wanted to buy me everything!" and he just wanted to go home.

He still plays, but the toys he plays with he already has (animals, dinosaurs, lego) or they're more like games (board games, puzzle games) or equipment (swing, trampoline, scooter, climbing wall, sports equipment) type things than toys (like the marble runs, the magformers, the trains, cars, dolls, the kitchen set, the tools). Toy toys, he's kind of over. Nonetheless, I am committed to wrapping paper. I love wrapping paper. Preach all you want about experiences and subscriptions, but to me nothing beats the joy of ripping paper at midnight on Christmas Eve.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:33 PM on December 10, 2024 [1 favorite]


The type of microscope that you plug into a computer and view the image on the screen is probably better than the traditional all optical kind. Binoclars would be better than a cheap telescope.

I don't remember if it was Arduino based, but I gave my son a kit for a device that plugs into and electric guitar or amp to modulate the sound. That sort of helper function is the Arduino's home territory since it's a controller, not a general purpose computer.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:40 AM on December 11, 2024


Chibitronics stuff -- circuit tape, LEDs, and batteries, plus some ideas/templates -- will let him build circuits using paper and glue/ tape. Stuff like greeting cards that light up or simple toys. I just picked some up after tinkering with WLED and ESP32s, because I want to make something genuinely simple without software and soldering and hot glue.

This starter pack explains the product.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:51 AM on December 11, 2024 [1 favorite]


Sparkfun has a gift guide for kids, and their Arduino inventor's kit and inventor's kit for Arduino Uno are very well put together and have excellent documentation. As with any Arduino (or adjacent) project, though, it's going to require a computer. (You write the project code on a computer, and then upload it to the Arduino. Sometimes, this is an intensely iterative process, figuring out why a certain part of your code/project doesn't work as expected, so the computer is tied up while you're making code changes and re-uploading to the Arduino.)
posted by xedrik at 7:56 AM on December 11, 2024


If programming/circuits/etc is still on the table, I would recommend something that runs circuitpython/micropython from Adafruit. Much easier to learn and play with than the arduino c++ ide. Still advanced for that age but a lot more accessible.

I don't know if ARM Microbits are still a thing but that's even easier as it uses a visual programming environment and has leds and other fun IO on board.
posted by jclarkin at 8:11 AM on December 11, 2024


Response by poster: Thanks all ...Chibitronics looks super cool and was absolutely ready to pull the trigger until I realized it uses coin batteries. My kid stick everything in his mouth, including coins, so I'm not getting him anything with coin batteries, though anyone else reading this who has less oral kid, should definitely check that out.

Programming/Circuits are still on the table (I need gifts from me, Santa, Grandparents, so there's room under the tree here) and I would definitely want a visual programming environment. I didn't stop to think maybe Arduino wouldn't do that. And yes, I know about Arduino needing a computer and I'm familiar with the maddeningly iterative nature of getting things working. What I meant about makey-makey is that you still need the computer hooked up to even use the thing that you made. With arduino after you made and programmed the thing, it should run without the computer. I

I'm not familiar with Adafruit, but it looks like they A) Ship via USPS and B) Are having trouble with even that so given that CanadaPost is on strike this is a non-starter for Christmas. Maybe I'll learn more about it for his birthday in April. Oooh...I really like that making robots book and the author's website, but it looks like some of the robot's are coin battery-based. Argh.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:05 AM on December 11, 2024


I bet you could use a couple of AA batteries in a holder that's (probably!) too big to go in his mouth, instead of the lithium coin cells.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:24 AM on December 11, 2024


My kid loves the Mark Rober Build Boxes. They are a lot of fun to build and then create interesting toys. You could see a few of the past ones to gauge whether that's the right fit for your kid.
posted by LKWorking at 12:56 PM on December 11, 2024


Microbit, the whole environment is made for that ageegroup, is programmable with Arduino code of thats wants when the time comes but .ost people are just going straight to python these days, and the basic board has a bunch of sensors included on it, and very few little breaky off parts.
posted by Iteki at 1:47 PM on December 11, 2024


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