Educational Insights Design & Drill Adventure Circuits, STEM Toy, 63 Pieces, Ages 5+...

My kid loved this toy.

I work on electronics projects and repair from time to time, not as much as I used to. My workshop is full of electronics equipment and parts, like meters, logic probe, tracer, frequency counter, scope, soldering station, transistors, transformers, capacitors, resistors, and many other things. My little daughter is a geek at heart. Being in first grade, she is not quite there to learn about electricity or electronics. However, she shows a lot of interest in my equipment and parts. I've been told that I am a horrible teacher, so I got this kit for her to start learning, the fun way. As it turns out, this kit is a far better teacher than I am. She really likes building different circuits, and make our own. We have made a few custom-made parts, like an electromagnet, and multiple color LED lights. Anyways, I found a few minor issues. The instruction is good, but can be confusing to people without a technical background. Some pictures do not exactly match the actual set well. Sometimes, we had to screw down the part pretty hard to make a good connection. Overall, this is a great educational tool. It can be a lot of fun, which depends on if your kid likes this kind of stuff. The parts are well-made and well thought out. I give it five stars.

The media could not be loaded. **Needs 3 AA and 3 AAA batteries*** I have twin 6 year olds and a 9 year old and was holding this set for a weekend they couldnt go outside. This is a hit with all 3!! This set comes with 90+ challenges that build on each other, lights, fans etc. It has a little electric drill that takes batteries to help the kids screw and unscrew the pieces. The little drill doesn't let you screw it in too tight and is so easy to work! My 3 kids have been able to do this independently after we did the first few together. This makes a fantastic gift!!!

The media could not be loaded. Overall, this is a good beginning circuit set to stimulate little minds and teach basic DC circuit concepts. I took one star off because I think there is room for improvement that I mention below in the dislike section. My kids like following the diagrams on the cards and are excited when they get it working. Now that they understand the concepts they like building them and explaining how they work to others. This set includes 20 missions in the mission manual that correspond to the 10 two sided mission cards. For the missions you pretend you are a researcher installing circuits at a research station or base for various reasons given in the mission scenario. The template cards have outlines that show where each component goes. The outline of each piece on the template has a number printed indicating the order that you place the pieces so they will stack properly. There are 3 lengths of ring connectors that are used to connect the battery pack to one or more of the loads (white led, multi-colored led, fan motor, and/or speaker). Connections are made by stacking the ring connectors and securing them with a plastic screw. Some dislikes are: - The battery powered driver does not have enough torque to fully seat the screws. You will have to hand tighten them the rest of the way to ensure a good connection. - The print in the manual is small. It would be nice if they used bigger font since this is meant for ages 5 and up. Using larger type would better allow for the younger kids to read along with parents. - On page 8, after Mission 1, there is a small section that gives a brief explanation about how circuits work. Drawings showing the current path and function of the switch were not included to help with the circuit explanation. - Not really a dislike but more a wish that the missions had explanations for the concepts that they mention. For example, mission 4 mentions using wind and mission 7 mentions solar panels to power the research station/base. Mission 8 mentions using a fan. This could have been better with a small explanation of how motors, wind turbines and solar work at a high level to tie in with the circuits aspect of this kit. NOTE: There is a convex side and a concave side to the ring connectors (see attached picture of convex/concave drawing). I found that the ring connectors make better contact and seem to sit on top of each other better if you keep the convex side up. The convex side is up on the battery pack, so it makes sense to keep this orientation throughout the circuit.

The set was above my expectations for introducing basic electronics concepts. The parts are easy to use and understand, and the exercises are well selected. There are a few short notes, but nothing that reduces value. The "connectors" are of two lengths, each with metal loops at the end. The circuits are closed by laying two connectors on each other, and fastening with a bolt. There is a electric screwdriver for this task, and that is the first shortfall. The screwdriver has too little of a torque, and for consistent connections, I would recommend tightening with hand after using the tool. The sample circuits are laid out on template cards, with diagrams for the components, and holes for the connections. Each increases in difficulty and introduces a new element. However there could be more information. There are "mission" descriptions on the instruction booklet, and it will give a rough idea on what to expect. Yet, an adult with knowledge is definitely helpful to understand "why" the circuit is working. For a parent - kids exercise, they are really useful. I could also see them being utilized in a classroom / group setup as well.