As I mentioned in my article about Best Snap Circuits Kits – Snap Circuits kits for kids are the most popular types of kits.
Snap Circuits kits are the best educational tools ever! I have said it before, and I will never get tired of saying it again and again.
What are the obvious advantages of snap circuits?
Snap circuits are aimed to help your kid to get an idea how electrical circuits work to run all the electrical devices we use on a daily basis. And they also make it possible for a child to have his first exposure to the world of electricity.
You may argue that nowadays we have so many various electronic toys for kids that there’s absolutely no need for a kid to build something with his hands. Well, true, however, there are millions of kids who would want to try their own hands at making their own toys! Curiosity and challenge still apply to kids.
Most of the beginners’ kits are super easy to use, extremely safe, solder-free and exciting. They all give young enthusiasts a chance to build cool stuff that really works. However, your guidance, help and support are needed and would be greatly appreciated.
Best Snap Circuits Kits for Kids in September, 2024 Review
| Image | Product | |
|---|---|---|
Best Choice  | Snap Circuits Beginner Kit
| Check Price |
Also Great  | Snap Circuits Arcade Kit
| Check Price |
Fun  | Snap Circuits BRIC
| Check Price |
STEM  | Hand2mind Power Snap Circuits Electricity
| Check Price |
Easy  | Elenco Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100
| Check Price |
Snap Circuits Beginner Kit from Elenco Electronics – Best Snap Circuits Kit for Kids Ages 5-9
It includes a very clear and detailed instruction arranged in the format of step-by-step diagrams. They are extremely easy to follow, and I’m sure that lots of 7-9 years old kids can make projects without any assistance.
Maybe not the first one, but the second for sure. In the book you can also find an informative troubleshooting guide, including basic and advanced troubleshooting (the latter requires adult supervision).
This educational tool is not one-off thing. Kids love snap circuit kits and play with them for a long time. Keep in mind, that you can always upgrade the kit with other ones.
This beginners’ kit could be a perfect start to the world of electricity and electronics. I bet you would be proud of your kid seeing him busy with a cool stuff!
- Well-designed introduction to lights/sounds/electricity
- Perfect starter kit for a good price
- Detailed, kid-friendly and clear step-by-step instructions
- No soldering required
- Problem solving toy
- Good quality material
- Easy to use
- There are some complaints from the users that the beeping sound is way too loud.
Snap Circuits «Arcade», Electronics Exploration Kit – Great Way to Learn Electronics
This «Arcade» building kit has only 30 snap parts, however, with them you would be able to accomplish over 200 projects!
The kit is an extremely easy to use. As in other snap circuit kits, base project gird is made of plastic and functions like a printed circuit board, and each component has a different color and its own purpose. All modules are connected via a male/female snap. It’s a great STEM activity: perfect way to introduce and learn electronics!
Recommendation: I would highly recommend this educational kit for a beginner!
- Great way to learn the basics of electricity, circuitry, and engineering
- No soldering required
- No programming involved
- «Snap» method of making circuits
- Good quality, durable components
- Good value for money
- Detailed and easy-to-use manual
- There was a complaint that a LED board didn’t work properly.
Snap Circuits BRIC – Lego Compatible Electronics Exploration Kit
This kit features innovative bric-2-snap technology. What does that mean? It means that you can combine snap circuits with building bricks to create amazing combinations of construction and circuitry. With bricks and snap circuits, you can build lights, sounds, moving parts, and 3-D Circuits.
The kit comes with 20 Snap Circuits parts, 75 bric-2-snap adapters, over 140 compatible building bricks, and a full-color, easy-to-read project manual.
Note: The kit allows to build endless quantity of projects as Snap Circuits BRIC is totally compatible with Lego! You can combine it with all your Lego compatible bricks. This kit is a perfect combination of Legos and Electronics. And let me assure you that your kid would discover an endless world of creative fun with this Snap Circuits BRIC!
- Compatible with Lego
- Good quality and sturdy components
- Good value for money
- Fun and educational: perfect STEM activity
- Endless ideas
- Almost none.
Hand2mind Power Snap Circuits Electricity – Science Kit for Kids 8-12 with Fact-Filled Guide
This kit comes with 25 items allowing to build 19 kids STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) experiments. It’s safe and easy to use due to 32-page colorful guide with detailed step-by-step instructions.
I can assure you that this kit is a fun, thought-provoking and educational tool. And don’t be surprised if your kid would want to finish all the projects in one go! After creating some simple and basic things, most of the kids can build whatever they like using the snap items. It’s an extremely versatile and easy to use product!
Note: Don’t worry of you are neither a licensed professional engineer nor have never taken an interest in anything close to electricity, the kit includes a special guidance for parents how to help the kids to use the snap circuit kit. Moreover, do your best to convince your kids to read the instruction before starting with any project. You don’t want to get them frustrated and give up when they realized that they could not create anything? Try to be patient and explain all the steps to be taken to see the projects through to completion. Just remember, all these kits are not simple toys, they are educational tools.
Useful tip: All snap circuits for kids 8-12 could be a great gift. Moreover, if the kid is a happy owner of the beginners’ kit, you can always find some upgrade.
Elenco Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 – the Most Popular Snap Circuits Kit by Elenco
Learn while doing! That’s indeed the case! This Snap Circuits Jr. kit is one of the best STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) kits for beginners available in the modern market.
The kit comes with 30 various color-coded parts that should be snapped together to build cool working devices and over 100 different electronic circuits. These are some of them: voice activated censor, a water detector, a speaker, a music circuit, a laser gun, a flying saucer and more. Of course, some of the circuits are similar to each other (you just need to replace one or two parts), but repetition is a key to learning!
The kit is aimed at beginners, and it’s really not that difficult to use. In the included manual you can find information about 100 various well illustrated projects. However, as the set doesn’t come with step-by-step illustrated instructions, make sure your kid can have a help in case of some misunderstanding.
Unfortunately, there’s not much explanation about every component and its role in the circuit. It means that if your child is very curious and wants to know some scientific information about the projects, you have to be prepared to answer the questions that might arise while building the projects. And of course, before even starting with the set, it’s better that you explain the basics of the electricity as well.
Tip: If you want to buy the kit as a gift, buy two AA batteries (they are not included) and put them into the box. That’s the way the kit would be enjoyed immediately after being opened.
Pros:
- Wide variety of projects
- Color-coded and clearly labeled parts for easy identification and assembly
- High-quality product: durable parts
- Fun, educational and safe
- Easy to clean
Cons:
- Step-by-step instructions are not available. There’s a picture of ready-made project. Therefore, in case of misunderstanding and any questions it’s better to have someone around who can help.
- Some parents are complaining that the kit doesn’t have lots of educational information.
- Two AA batteries are required
Snap Circuits Snaptricity – Electronics Exploration Kit (Stem Building) For Kids 8+
This is another STEM exploration kit with more than 40 parts and a possibility to design over 75 projects. It comes with an illustrated manual where you can find a detailed description of all the parts included: a base grid, a battery holder, press and slide switches, snap and jumper wires, a meter, a motor, a fan, a lamp and others. It also contains a very useful information about Do and Don’ts of building circuits and extremely important guidelines.
What I really like about this manual is the basic introduction to the electricity and electronics, some electrical materials, magnetism and basic electrical circuits. Similar to Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100, there are no step-by-stem colored instructions, however, the description of each project is easy to understand and to follow. Assembly, operation, description parts are written in a clear language with some basic scientific explanations behind each activity.
After completing the circuits and projects, your kid would get a general idea of how electricity is working in your house, how light is controlled by switches, what is a magnetic field, parallel and series circuits and more.
Tip: Try to draw kid’s attention to what Snappy guy is saying and the information in the Educational corner!
Pros:
- Good value for money
- Well-made high-quality product
- Safe patented parts
- Informative colored manual
- Simple and effective way to connect the circuits using snaps
- Perfect gift
- Durable
Cons:
- According to the manufacturer’s recommendation, the kit might be used by 8 years old kids, however, some circuits are not fully explained and a kid (without any experience) would definitely need some help in order to build a circuit and understand what’s going on behind it.
- No batteries. Three AA batteries are required
FAQ
1) What is the recommended age for both kits?
According to the manufacturer’s recommendations, it’s 8+.
2) What is an average building time for a beginner project?
It’s very difficult to estimate an average time for a project to be build. There are main factors effecting the issue: skill level and experience of the user, and complexity level of the project.
3) Is it possible to design user’s own circuits?
Of course! Once he or she feels comfortable and knowledgeable enough to build his/her own circuits or projects, why not?
4) Are batteries included in these sets?
No, they are not. The batteries should be bought separately.
5) Can these kits be used in schools or any educational programs?
Of course! The kits are perfect educational tools and can be used for any STEM projects.
Conclusion
From my own experience I can tell you that these Snap Circuit kits would help your kids to get the basics of electricity and magnetism, switches and relays, and much more. And keep in mind that your child would not be able to overgrow these educational toys as there’s always a chance to upgrade them to a more advanced kit.
If you are looking for a cool gift, without any hesitations go for any of the aforementioned kits and it would be the greatest gift you have ever given to a kid!
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