SNAP CIRCUITSPro SC-500 STEM Electronics Kit, 500+ Projects, Ages 8+

Great fun for grandpa and his smart 6 1/2 year old. Snaps worked fine. Board holds up as well...better than gramps!

Even though these were not on the childs gift list, my husband knew that they would be a hit for a bright 10 year old. It turns out they were also a hit for his dad and older brother, and the three of them continue to build projects and have requested additional sets to add motin, etc. I think younger kids could also use it, probably even younger that 8 with help. We really liked the non-screen nature of this product, which actually teaches and instill a curiosity of how electricity and electric circuits work. This is a great STEM toy for a child who might not get as much of that in his day to day life. The pieces seem sturdy and well-constructed. It is great that there are a lot of projects that are included as suggestions, and open-ended by creating other things with imagination. However, some of the suggested "projects" are online, which doesn't make it as easy to review, and introduces distractions.

My girlfriend has a grandson about the same age as my grandson. We got the two boys together and put this game in front of them. They have developed the best friendship, they had hours of fun with this game.

My kids had those sets years ago and loved them. Recently got this set as a gift to a little boy and he loves it just as much! It’s a great learning “toy” to have! Very engaging! Easy to understand on how to use it.

Electronics Exploration Kit is a really impressive educational toy. The concept is fantastic — it offers tons of projects and is a wonderful hands-on way for kids to learn about electronics, circuits, and how components work together. The instructions were clear, and the variety of experiments makes it exciting and educational. That said, I was disappointed with the durability of the circuit pieces. The components felt quite fragile, and we experienced issues with parts not snapping securely or feeling like they could break easily with normal use. Since this is designed for kids, I was expecting something a bit sturdier. Because of concerns about the longevity of the pieces, I ultimately decided to return it. It’s a wonderful learning kit in theory, but I wish the components were made more durable to handle regular hands-on play. If durability improves, this would easily be a 5-star product.

I have a 4yr old grandson who loves to take electronics apart. Usually his parents take him to thrift stores to buy old electronics just for him to take apart. I was trying to find him something more practical and these snap circuits were just wanted I wanted. He loves taking these apart and rebuilding new things with them. These keep him involved and he does not get bored with them. He loves them!! I have since bought him other snap circuits and from what I can tell they seem to all be interchangeable with each other. I absolutely recommend these if you have a little one that loves taking things apart and learning how things work.

This has been such a hit with my STEM loving 7 year-old! He put together over half of the projects during the first week because he hasn’t wanted to stop building and solving problems! We will be buying more to add to it!

I can't sing enough praise about this toy for the parents of any scientifically minded youngster. While the toy is costly, for sheer "educational and fun" value, I can say we've gotten more bang for our buck out of this toy than any other we've ever bought for our children. It is well worth the price. My nine year old received this toy in February, and I can say while he has played with it almost every single day since, has barely made a dent in all of the possible projects, and still can't get enough of it. For this review, I asked my childrens' (and their father's) favorite experiments. I got more than I could include, but here's a small sample: The Light and Sounds experiments: We loved looking at electronic signal patterns using the included oscilloscope Windows "WINSCOPE" software. My child spent two weeks experimenting with different signal patterns in any any sound from talking, laughing, or screaming into the microphone; playing music and other audio samples etc. Salt Water Light: Electricity conduction. By submersing wires into water, we completed a power circuit and lit a light bulb. We added salt to the water and found it to be an even stronger conductor, creating a brighter light. This toy isn't limited to huge number of projects outlined in the experiment book. If your child is creative, the potential of this toy is a happy thing. We created our own variation of the Salt Water Light by wetting our hands with salt water and clasping hands while holding the wires, thus using our bodies to create and complete the circuit. Since the power source was double A batteries, this was a safe variation, though clearly you wouldn't want to try any un-approved power sources for this toy for obvious safety reasons. (IE: Don't plug it into a wall socket if you'd like to keep your hair or brain.) Another example was a modification of the simple "On/Off" project from the Snap Circuits. My nine year old likes Legos and K'nex building toys. He put together a motorized K'nex car. Using the Snap Circuits, he created a bypass of the K'nex motor's original on/off switch so that he could turn the motor on using the Snap Circuit mechanism. He wants to expand on this using the solar panel included in the Snap Circuits to see if he can then make the K'nex car solar powered. On the downside, while this toy is remarkably sturdy for something with so many parts and delicate electronic components, it isn't indestructible, and can't handle a lot of hard play. We've broken one of the capacitors so far. You can order replacement parts from the company, though since we haven't done this yet I can't offer a review of the process. My one complaint is storage. We have kept the original box with its form fitted plastic insert to hold the parts snugly in place, but the box is not designed for real storage and transport. My son keeps it out and open on his dresser. You can purchase a specially designed carry case for between $30-50 dollars. I might consider that for his next birthday present, but it's pricy enough that it isn't an afterthought purchase in the least. I'm sure other people could offer better and cheaper creative storage suggestions, but we haven't looked into it yet. On the whole, this is a superior toy. We were and are still very satisfied with this purchase.

I have been eyeing this for sometime for my kids and when I saw this listed at an amazing price, very close to the prices available in the US, I grabbed it. It also reached me very quickly. Thanks Amazon. The product is designed to get kids excited about electrical / electronics around them. You could pull together a breadboard and several of these components at a much lower price. You would be still stuck with messy / a little unsafe soldering etc. or with ugly wires sticking around. While for some, that could be well be the 'charm' of 'rolling up your sleeves', I don't believe that is a great first introduction. Because much of the bandwidth will be spent trying to 'make it work'. Now this on the other hand, has really high quality board and parts. The manuals (there are 5 of them with this set!!) are clear and easy to follow. There is enough basic information on not just 'what' but 'why' you do them. For those who want more detailed information, you could easily pull more content online from the web. The way I chose to use it, was to get the kids (11 and 5 years) to pull together anything that caught their fancy from the hundreds available. They started attempting the very complicated stuff, but quickly agreed they would rather go in sequential order :-) The 'experiments' are organized in sequential order of difficulty / complexity. When they pulled it together, they got great satisfaction from making the bulbs flash / sirens beep etc. I would then ask them 'why they think it happened'. So without getting into complicated IC circuitry which would be above them, they started understanding the need for logical gates and how circuits work or computers 'think'. I then asked my 5 year old what logical 'gates' (OR, AND, XOR) etc. he would use for him and his friends to reach the play park and use various equipment (swing : only one allowed at a time, see saw : perforce needs two etc.) This was great fun for him and terrific learning as well. My 11 year old is now trying to seriously decide whether the 'oscilloscope' principle is best served for engineers or doctors.. and therefore what she should become when she grows up :-) Absolutely love it!! I wish I had these things when I was growing up.

My grandson always played with the snap circuits whenever he come over to my place ever since I bought it for him. He will do different projects from the one listed in the books.

Very enjoyable way to learn about electrics. My kid loves it

Es lo mejor de lo mejor para niños curiosos y que les encanta armar cosas, me encantó el manual con muchos arreglos de circuitos y sus componentes super geniales. Me gustaría haber tenido esto en la escuela jaja, bueno lo mio era más profesional protoboards y pues alisar las patitas a los componentes pa que entraran en los agujeritos, pero esto es genial para niños en primaria que llevan algún taller de electrónica. Esta genial me quede fascinada y voy por más. Por cierto lo compre para mi hijo de 7 años y tmb le encantó pero su mamá le gusto más jaja.

really awesome stuff!! my kid is 6 yrs and she thoroughly enjoys the snap circuits. instructions are very simple and after a few guided projects shes able to do the rest projects by herself. it allows kids to develop basic knowledge on circuits like how current flows to control light, sound etc. really good product quality also.