Snap Circuits for Learning About Electricity

My 8 year old has been a robot fanatic for several years now. One of the first steps he took toward learning to build robots was learning about electricity. Our Snap Circuits have really helped in our electricity studies.

When he was 4 we got him the Snap Circuits Jr. set with 100 projects ideas. He was a little young for the set, but it was the perfect starting point. At 5 he was able to start building the projects with minimal help, at 6 he was building them alone. Now at 8 years old he no longer uses the book and builds projects on his own as well as using the pieces from his R/C Rover kit.

Snap Circuits Jr. 100

The Snap 100 set is a great starting place. There are plenty of projects that are both easy to understand and quick to build. Great for keeping interest in the younger electricians.

Project 1 starts you off with the simplest project first. It shows you an exact photo of which pieces to use and how to place them all on your grid plate to get your project working. In addition to a full color photo on the projects you also get an explanation of how/why this project does what it does. The projects grow in complexity from project 1 to project 100.

Snap Circuits Jr. Pros

This kit has been an awesome kit to start with. There are plenty of projects to get you started and keep you busy for hours/years. Building a project one time does not deter you from going back and building it again, and experimenting with what you want to build next. It is easy to either do the projects or work on your own. The project pages are easy to follow and in our experience always work when hooked up correctly. There is an extra adapter that you can purchase to make your snap circuits powered with a wall outlet instead of flying through your batteries. I also like the clear plastic tray that it comes in, making it much easier to keep together. The pieces/parts are very durable and have withstood a LOT of play and from a young boy.

Snap Circuits Cons

I don’t have many complaints. They do go through the batteries rather quickly, but I do have the option of purchasing the adapter. (We go through so many batteries with it because once it is out, it is played with for hours.) I would love to see them include that with the kits.

Snap Circuits Remote Control Rover

After we had the regular snap circuits kit and got comfortable with it we decided to try the Remote Control car, because what boy wouldn’t want to build his own RC car!?!?

My son had such success with the Snap Circuits at a younger age so we didn’t wait until he was 8 to purchase this set either.

I wouldn’t start a younger kid with this kit. It has more moving parts and is far more complicated. Once your kiddo has grasped a regular set, this one is a great step up…. but as a first set it may be a little intimidating. (Or it would be for me.)

R/C Snap Rover Pros

For a kid that is a little more advanced this is a great set. There are 23 projects with this kit. Much like the other kit this one has easy to follow directions and photos for each set up. All projects also give a little more information on how/why each thing works the way that it does. And again, what kid doesn’t want to build and rebuild and work on an R/C car!!

R/C Snap Rover Cons

I am not as big a fan on this kit as I am the simple snap circuits. It has a lot more moving parts, so more of a chance of getting broken. The jumper wires that are needed to connect the project are far less durable than the snap wires. Within the first few days we had a broken wire. (Another great reason to wait until you have older more gentle kids for this kit.) More recently we began having trouble with our remote…

Overall Review of Snap Circuits

I am a fan. My son is wildly interested in robotics so learning about electricity is important and the snap circuits make it fun. The age recommendations for the Snap Circuits Jr could certainly go younger… I would say a 6 year old could easily use/manipulate this kit. But for the RC car I would go a little older with maybe a 10 year old…. or maybe a really gentle 8 year old that doesn’t have a 4 year old sister that is eager to help.

My son has recently studied electricity in his science school work and while his experiments were much more elementary than what is available with this kit it taught him a little more about diagrams and parallel vs series circuits. Which of course has helped him in his building circuits without looking at the projects in his book. Now he has a better grasp of what will or will not work and how to fix a project so that it will.