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 toy for kids and parents alike!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll start off by admitting that I am a super nerd! I love all things "tech" and I have an electrical background so I may be a little biassed. My daughter is seven and is also somewhat into gadgets. Don't get me wrong.... She loves her Barbies and Bratz too. She is always asking me to play with her but I is pure torture for me to even think about playing dolls! Here lies the beauty of this toy. As with most kids, they just want their parents to spend time with them. I fully understand this and do enjoy spending time with her. With this toy, we can do something together that is educational. She really likes this toy. The quality is great. The instructions are extremely well laid out. I would say that some six year olds and all seven year olds and older can build the circuits themselves. While this is a good thing, it can also water down the educational value. The toy can become an exercise in simply following directions and creating what is laid out in the book. Adult comments, ideas and suggestions add a lot to the childs understanding of what they just created. The projects are not all that elaborate and will probably not impress most adults. Simple alarms and flashing lights are most of what you get but a child is amazed that they were able to create it. I recommend this toy to any child six and up that is into gadgets. If an adult will join the child in playing with this toy, I HIGHLY recommend it. Both will have a great time!Customer Review: Fun but not very educational
Summary: 3 Stars
This is definitely fun for young learners. It's easy to snap the pieces together. I work with young adults in Laos, who had no experience with anything remotely similar, and it kept them engaged.
But for the package to say that it teaches "all about electronics" is a big stretch. The kit contains only one single resistor, no capacitors, and no transistors. (Those items presumably exist inside the three plastic boxes, which you connect to make fun things happen, but the user can't see inside the boxes. They're mystery boxes. Nor does the booklet attempt to tell much.) It doesn't teach about electronics, any more than plugging in a television set teaches about electronics.
It is fun, and it's easy to put the pieces together. It could spark some curiosity. It demonstrates some basic ideas about circuitry. But it provides little opportunity to really learn about how electronic components work. Claiming "100 Projects" is also a stretch; many of the projects are very similar to one another.
I'd suggest this for younger children, age 8 to 10; or for older ones if you're looking for a gift that's fun. If you want something educational, I suggest starting with the full-size Snap Circuits. It's a good concept, they just over-promised with the "Junior" version.
Customer Review: Snap Circuits are the best electric kits!
Summary: 5 Stars
My son got this kit at age 6 & loved it. He is very smart and interested in science, but he has a bit of trouble with manual dexterity, so the type of electrical kit that was common when I was a kid (with wires that need to be twisted or soddered together) might be frustrating for him. Snap Circuits is perfect for kids with higher IQ than dexterity. Physically, it is much, much easier to put together than LEGO. My kid can easily put it together himself, following the instructions or experimenting on his own (with an adult looking over his shoulder to make sure he remembers never to connect the two poles of the battery w/o something in between). The instructions are clear & have good diagrams (it helps to realize that the diagram is not to scale). The "100 projects" are somewhat redundant, but there's still plenty to occupy a kid who likes this kind of thing. The kit is durable, too. Despite much enthusiastic use by a kid who's inherited klutz genes from both parents, only one part ever broke (the "jumper wire" -- the only part that's not rigid plastic) and the company cheerfully replaced it at no additional charge after one phone call. I recommend Snap Circuits enthusiastically for kids who are budding engineers. Schools & home-schooling parents should also consider this as an educational aide.Customer Review: Great fun, even for a 4 year old
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for my four year old daughter for Christmas. I wanted to introduce her to a new side of electronics that she could safely interact with while still young - by doing this I'm hoping that she'll be interested in computers and electronics when she is older. While I don't dare let her play with it by herself until she's older, I do look at the instructions and show her, then hand her the pieces and let her put it on the board. She loves to be able to help and this is a good way for her to do so. She enjoys the flying helicopter top project (I can't remember the project's name at the moment) but I found it won't work if the batteries become too weak.
In any case, while it's just the starter kit with only 100 projects, some of which aren't too exciting, especially for a four year old, it is upgradeable so I know that when she gets older I can expand on the kit if she continues to like these sorts of things.
Pros:
* great educational toy
* younger children can play with it (with adult supervision)
* the instructions are easy to follow
* each project teaches something about electronics in a hands-on sort of way
Cons:
* it doesn't include batteries
Customer Review: Buy It, Buy It, Buy It!
Summary: 5 Stars
A Christmas present for my 5 year old that he absolutely loves. After we did the first couple of projects and he grasped the idea that a circuit is a closed circle that power can run around, he was off to the races.
The parts are very well labeled, and easy for kids to handle and manipulate. They snap together positively and hold together very, very well. The materials are colorfully coded and durable - no fear of breakage here. My 10 year old even has the exact same products in her school, so you know it can stand up to long term use. The experiments in the book tend to get complex a little too fast. The manufacturer thoughtfully labels components in each project with its layer to help you get the parts assembled in the right order. The manufacturer has also considerately provided a sheet to guide you in putting everything back in its place and ready for the next round of experiments.
There is enough here to keep kids occupied for a long time. My boy has played with it an average of about an hour a day the last four days since Christmas. The propeller experiment is really cool and a crowd pleaser. Would I buy it again? You bet! And I highly recommend it to anyone.