Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100
by Elenco Electronics Inc
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List Price: Our Price: $20.14 You Save: $12.85 (39%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $9.99 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100
Customer Review: Great for young kids
Summary: 5 Stars
"I" just got this as a present this past Christmas. I don't think I got to look at it for more than a minute before my 6-year-old daughter decided she wanted to look at it. I knew that it would be a good learning kit, but didn't realize how much my kid would take to it. We opened the box, found ourselves 2 AA batteries, and pulled out the instruction manual. I did a quick check for any really important details I needed to know and the only really, really important part was never to create a short-circuit. I explained this to my daughter and we started working.
She took to it really quickly. In one day, we went through the first 10-15 experiments, with me explaining how the electricity flowed and what was making things tick along the way. She understood the parallel vs. series paths and could get a general idea about what would happen when we connected everything. Sometimes I'd ask what she thought would happen and she generally got it right. She has been really excited to keep on going with the experiments and can assemble the circuits easily on her own now that she understands what's going on.
The diagrams are easy to follow, though it took me a couple of diagrams to realize that the "level" at which each component should reside is indicated in the diagram. That makes assembly easier for my daughter when trying to figure out where things go. The directions are clearly indicated on both the parts and the diagrams so anything that needs to be placed a certain way such as motors or LEDs can be done easily. The parts are color-coded to an extend which makes it really easy to pick up the correct parts.
I think she was really sold on it after we did the "flying saucer" lab. She enjoyed it before that, but putting the little fan on the motor and launching it into the air amused her quite a bit. We repeated that one several times and adding the light and switch to the circuit was a lot of fun as well.
I highly recommend this product (and similar) for inquisitive young minds.
That being said, I should report that our kit has a tendency to "launch" one of the batteries due to the way the spring sits in one of the compartments. Sometimes a battery will just shoot out of the holder - not enough to hurt anything, but I've taken to holding the battery down while we turn on the circuit. On the positive side, this makes it a little easier to ensure we double-check the circuit before turning it on.
Customer Review: Excellent!!! Perfect fit in my home.
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this as a Christmas present for my 5 year old daughter. I am still in school for Engineering Science with an electrical and computer focus. Often I will involve my daughter in my homework, even if it is only reading my textbooks as bedtime stories. She doesn't care what I'm reading, it's the sound of my voice and the fact that I'm reading TO HER that she loves. Lately she has been understanding some of the concepts and asking questions, but I might just be a bragging mother with a biased view. I haven't been able to involve her in my circuit design projects, due to the small components, due dates and such. I usually waited until after she went to bed to work on my projects, leading to long nights and lots of coffee ;) With this product I can help her answer her own questions with hands on experience, and mommy makes grown up circuits while she can make her very own, just like mommy! It lessens her curiosity about what I'm doing when I work on circuits during the day, most notably the natural desire of "Can I see [with my hands?]" This in turn makes for a well rested, thus very satisfied, customer.
It was one of the first toys she played with on Christmas day. She got the hang of it quickly and after guiding her through the first couple projects she was using it independently. After a while she would come up with an idea of what she would want to do, (i.e. make music constantly and make the light come on only when she pressed the button,) only needing a little troubleshooting guidance before she was off and running again.
This is a unique toy in that it assists children in building series and parallel circuits, and other introductory concepts, some which we directly related to college level textbooks!
Even for adults, this product could be useful as a more durable at-home-lab study tool for early electronics technicians.
This was an excellent purchase. In my situation, it was well worth the price. For a young child it needs some initial adult guidance to make it interesting, so plan to spend some "bonding" time when introducing it. In my opinion this is a constructive staple to foster growth in any child mechanically and scientifically inclined, or just forever curious on why electronics do what they do.
Customer Review: Fantastic value
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember when I was a kid, building radio kits and playing with electronic gadgets of all kinds. I definitely learned a lot and had lots of fun (I ended up studying electronic engineering in university). However, while fun, I had lots of frustrating experiences with those kits. Fiddly wires, annoying connections that were hard to make, etc.
I saw this product on Amazon here, read some reviews and decided to try it out. I was a little wary since I recently got some other science toys for my 7.5 yr old son and he wasn't particularly enamored with them. Not that they were bad; just that they were hard to appreciate for him. Directions were hard to follow for his age, etc.
This snap circuits kit is quite the opposite. Simply amazing. I introduced it as "lego electronics". And it really is. It's really simple to build all the circuits. After a few false starts, my son was building the circuits almost completely by himself. The pieces are simple to snap together. So easy compared to what I remembered.
What impressed me the most is the manual. Few toys devote so much effort to the manual. Full color, easy to understand diagrams, and straightforward text.
The only thing they could do more of is explain the electricity principles a bit more. However, for mid-twenty-dollars, I can't really complain. And I believe they do have a teachers-companion guide or something like that which presumably has the extra educational material in it.
I thought some of the experiments could be grouped differently to make a more logical flow. However, I think they put some thought into interleaving the "boring-but-important" projects with more fun noise-making-and-light-flashing ones to keep the kids interested.
Overall, an amazing job. I can't imagine how anyone could better this. Fantastic stuff. The guys who came up with this deserve a medal.
Customer Review: Beware! This toy is extremely addictive!
Summary: 5 Stars
I gave this to my seven and three quarters year old son two days ago, since then he has made at least 20 projects.
PROS:
* Opportunity to teach electronic terms such as conduct, electric, circuit, closed circuit (closed circle) etc. My son eagerly investigated these terms.
* Repeated accomplishments/rewards - Every project is an accomplishment that is rewarded with sounds or lights from familiar places (police siren, alarm etc.)
* Eventual independent project - For younger children and those starting out supervision is required. The grid is helpful for those beginning to get a spatial sense of how far or near each part should be to aid in closing the circuit, but the numbers are faint. In addition, the order of the steps from "1" to "2" etc. are not always clear, but once a good understanding of the layout is understood this is no longer a problem.
CONS:
*If your child is too eager, the projects become redundant.. and I can easily see this becoming boring after another couple of weeks. How many times can you build until you hear a siren or make a fan whirl? My son is already combining projects and skipping to the end.. *le sigh*
* The happy annoyance of having to initially and sincerely be amazed at your child's ability to discipline his mind and follow orders.. giving way to the struggle to feign interest at the billionth light he constructed..
The Cons are a personal and subjective way of handling a child's enthusiasm to redundant creations..and are by no means inherent in the experience of this toy.. I just realize I will have to purchase the next level up sooner than I thought.. :-)
Lastly - Discipline, creativity, independent play, self esteem booster.. this toy has a lot going for it..
Highly recommended..
Customer Review: Learn Science at Home Better than at School
Summary: 2 Stars
My 7 year old son loves snap circuits. He finds it relatively easy to put the projects together. He has experience building legos and there are lots of comparisons between the two toys.
The guides and diagrams are clearly presented. There was minimal confusion finding parts as the color and name of the snap circuit in the guide book don't always match what is on the actual part word for word.
I don't think snap circuits, jr. is educational on its own. When asked if he learned anything about electricity, my son replied "no." The guide tells you what to do but not why and how it works. That is up to parents to explain to their children.
If you want your child to really learn about electricity and electronics there are some basics you can teach them while doing the projects together. For example, you can explain to them that in order to create electricity you need a power source and a resistor. If you have your power source connected to more than one resistor, the power will decrease. You can demonstrate this to your children. Battery power that does not go to a resistor is a short circuit. You can easily demonstrate this to your children while doing the projects. Encourage your children to swap parts and see what takes place. This should help them create a better understanding of how things work electrically.
I wrote an in-depth review of snap circuits and included a glossary of terms that I thought would be useful to parents. Also included are suggestions for how to get the most out of this educational toy.
You can read this review by visiting [...], an educational website that aims to engage young minds in active learning. On the home page you will see the snap circuits review.
Jennifer Krauss
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