Want STEM gifts they’ll have fun with?
Got asked what’s a good STEM gift, came up with a few ideas. Here’s a list, feel free to discuss amongst yourselves. Add anything you can think of.
Age ranges obviously vary.
The mBot and mBot Ranger
Build a tank/chicken/etc, program said device to do your bidding. You don’t get much straighter forward than that.
We reviewed mBot’s products here, and here
LEGOs
Seriously, you can do next to anything with enough of them. You’re not limited to the sets, and younger kids you probably don’t want the sets for. Just get them a big old box of legos. Maybe a lego-base case to put them in as well.
I saw a really wicked gool TV-Dinner tray style version with buckets on the sides for parts and the main area was a flat lego base board when I was at Toys R Us recently, however I am failing at finding this.
Minecraft
As low res as this thing is, the kids who play it are getting the same benefits as with playing with legos and it’s a lot cheaper.
The game will run you about $15 for most gaming platforms.
X in 1 electronic playset
When I was a kid I had a 100 in 1 and a 200 in one electronic playset. I made radios, beepers, flashing lights, and all sorts of stuff that got me interested in knowing how the world works.
They’re priced between reasonable and hideously expensive. Here’s a less expensive 130 in 1 set that looks good, but feel free to point me to better priced ones.
Lincoln Logs
I may just be saying this because I always wanted a set when I was a kid, but any chance I had to play with these I was drawn to them. Unfortunately they were always in the control of someone else, or could be knocked over.
Hell, I got to play with them last week and some three year old decided she wanted to build things her way and I still have yet to complete one house.
