My 10-year-old had been playing with a smaller set of these (the “Beginner” set), and with an Amazon gift card, he ordered this kit. It’s definitely more fun than the smaller kit—there are many design ideas in the accompanying booklet that you'll find in not the box. The experiment which he involved him placing two components into a glass of water to sound an alarm, and then pouring increasing amounts of salt into the water to raise the volume of the (admittedly pretty cool) sounds this thing was making as he would hover the components just above the water and then plop then in—he really liked that activity and about three or four others. (Plus, it sparked in my mind the idea that he and I would make a theremin (one of the very first, and extremely cool, electronic music instruments—but NOT with this little kit, of course).
An evening of trying out the designs—and creating a few of his own, using parts with both kits he has—was fun for him, but he complained (& I was thinking the same thing), "You know, this is neat and all, but I really don't learn anything from it—like much about electricity—how it all WORKS."
So, the kits are pretty neat, but after your kid simply follows some instructions to make the circuit designs that interest him or her, this may well end up in a shelf, never to be touched again, as ours has, after only a few hours play.,That's okay, too, I suppose. I was just hoping for something that would engage his mind more, especially as he's fascinated by electricity (and virtually every other "science thing" to which he's ever been exposed).
