#STEM and Gear Gifts For your Children

The idea of a “science toy” sort of breaks down below a certain age. A toddler who cannot yet read does not need a scientific calculator, for example, and even the most science-oriented second-grader might struggle to make it through the collected works of Stephen Hawking. If you’ve got a youngling to buy for, we’ve put together some gift ideas we think they’ll enjoy. These gifts are things that will cultivate curiosity and stand up to whatever a kid might put them through, or at least be inexpensive enough to use hard and then grow out of. And they respect the idea that kids can be interested in things they maybe can’t yet do with all the finesse of an adult. Fear is the mind-killer. Don’t let that new microscope collect dust in a closet because your budding biologist is afraid to break it and get yelled at. Remember, kids: the only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.

Neodymium magnet toys, marketed as Buckyballs, took kids’ imaginations by storm until the Buckyballs were recalled and taken off the market in 2014 for safety reasons. Goobi ($119.95) is an open-ended construction toy that’s designed to let kids have fun with magnets and magnetism, without the risk of intestinal perforation created when children swallow ultra-powerful magnets.

The first time I learned that semiconductors began life as artificially grown crystal ingots, it blew my mind. While they won’t align your auras, cleanse your chakras, or demystify downward dog, crystal-growing kits ($15) are a neat way to illustrate how inorganic structures grow and assemble themselves given appropriate conditions.

 Kits like the Magic Rock and Mega Science Lab are suitable for a classroom gift exchange or a birthday present for a classmate.

Also high on my list are the Dangerous Book for Boys and the Daring Book for Girls. They’re written for kids, not for their perhaps more sedate and less adventurous parents, but they allow for parents to read along and even join in on some of the fun. Both books are absolutely crammed with stories, facts, ideas and projects that kids just eat up.

Mindstorms are Lego robotics kits for older kids or (and let’s just be honest about this) curious adults. These kits include features like ARM9 microprocessors, servos, USB ports and WiFi for connectivity, microSD card slots, and even iOS and Android support on some models. The Mindstorms EV3 kit ($349.95, above) isn’t cheap, at $349, but the included kit includes instructions on how to build five different robots, and with a little ingenuity or a few bored afternoons there are all kinds of unscripted ways the Mindstorms kit can interact with stuff from around the house. 
Source:ExtremeTech

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