Review on 🔌 SmartLab Toys Electronic Circuit Gadgets by Robert Kimble

Thirty years ago I bought what seemed to be a simple electronics kit from Snap Circuits for my 8 year old son. It was a bit out of his reach at the time but good enough that he kept it and recently passed it on to his own 8 year old son who also likes it but still finds it challenging. Wondering how things have changed over the years I was dying to try this new set on my 8 year old grandson and today is the day. As expected, he was very interested and enjoyed looking through the set. I expected him to read the manual first, but instead he just got down to business and tried to build one of the middle projects (a light detector that makes a speaker crow like a rooster in the light). Step-by-step instructions to follow on the left side of the page he was currently almost without further help. After a few minutes he did something, but first a wire was broken by one position. When we checked his work again, everything was fine, with a yell every time we turned on the light in that room. This is the grandson who never rates anything higher than 3 out of 5 but gave this set a 4.5. Out of all, this is a solid, perfect 5 stars. One aspect of this kit is both a strength and a weakness: the kit essentially consists of ten pre-assembled "black box" electronic modules that only need to be placed on the modular boards and wired together. pre-assembled colored wires in different lengths. On the other hand, it allows even an eight-year-old to build microprocessor-controlled devices that do interesting things. On the other hand, it is far from understanding how such devices work at the level of discrete elements. The manual is the right length and level of reading, colorful and well organized, although our grandson wasn't interested in reading it that way. the authors expected. I'm pretty sure he'll come back and do it later once he's done enough projects to know how it all works under the covers. A minus point is the battery compartment: 3 AAA batteries are required, which are not included. , and it cannot be inserted without a tiny Phillips screwdriver, which is also not included. To make matters worse, this screw arrived almost ripped off (see attached photo) - I removed the cap, put the batteries in and put the cap back on, but my grandson couldn't even get it to work with the jeweler's screwdriver I used. If somehow the manufacturers don't believe that putting in 3 AAA batteries can harm an eight year old, then a lid that the user can open and close would make more sense. back and highly recommended.