Do any of you have experienced good products for tinkering together with a 3 year old?
I thought about something like a giant breadboard with simple connectors to switch on a light or play a sound or something.
It doesn’t have to be too fancy, just sturdy and safe to play together with an adult.
Thanks!
Growing up I usually had a little 50 in one or 100 in one electronics project kit.
Keeps all the stuff on one kit, and you connect wires under little springs. Still adult supervision required for sure, but on the upper range of what’s possible.
As a young child, I had a wooden board with a bunch of different light switches mounted to it. Nothing to tinker with, but I had a lot of fun with the physical sensation of switching them on and off. I think that’s all you can really ask for at that age.
Later on, I enjoyed taking the switches apart, figuring out how they work and using them in my electronics projects.
My point is, whatever you choose should be physically fun, even without understanding it. A few switches and maybe a blinking light can entertain a toddler for a long time. The tinkering can come later.
My local children museum has something like this. Let me see if I can find a picture to give you an idea of the set up. It does look like it would be $$$ for set up. What’s your price point?
Cool, i’m definitely interested. If it’s something we’d supposedly both enjoy I could spend 200 or so.
Cool! I’m still looking for a picture. I’ll post when I find it but thinking about this more I know there are a ton of toys like this made. Most are for older kids and are priced at about $20-80.
Look up circuit station kids science and you should get an idea of the kits.
Here are some links I found:
My kids had Snap Circuits but it’s a bit complex for a toddler. It’s probably the most basic circuit designer I can think of though. They did a great job. If an adult is helping it would be fun for both.
Breadboard is a cool idea, but your first experiments will likely be super simple right?
Here’s a few thoughts.
How about some double conducting copper tape and sheets of craft paper or cardboard. (Double conducting conducts on the top as well as the sticky side so overlapping joins completes the circuit).
You can draw/plan and then route the copper sticky tape like a circuit board. Fashion basic switches from the copper tape around a cardboard flap, tape down any “flat” components like resistors.
Add some tinned leads to anything that would stick up from the board.
I often find the more tactile “MacGyver” approach is a better teaching aid as there’s no mystery behind the scenes (no hidden board wires, no pre-mounted components or connectors). Everything is built up from existing skills and experiences.
When you start to get more advanced, 80s Aussie kids grew up with:
That has a complete list of components needed for the projects in the book. Same idea as the copper tape, just with bits of wire and screws. The project in the book were all built onto a pre-drilled block of plastic with the schematic laid on top. They were fun little projects and easy enough to do - the flashers and sirens were a hit for me.
I really like the cardboard approach. Maybe I can come up with something on a plywood basis. Copper tape is a great idea. Also thanks for the link, I imagined something like this just a little bigger and sturdier and with more basic components (resistors included with the LED for example). Will save the book for later.
maybe something like littlebits kit? I haven’t tried them myself, but they look fun, educational and kids friendly (not sure about 3yo thou)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7B0mWvnE1Q