2014 Gifts for Developing STEM in Kids

So, I’ve had a handful of folks ask me for suggestions on what to get their kids who are interested in technology or who they want to get interested in technology. So, I’m tossing together a quick post to give folks some ideas. This is NOT a product review, in fact, it’s not even based on me owning or using the products in some cases, mostly based on knowledge of the product through seeing it or reading actual reviews. Take this as a jumping off point to conduct your own reviews. Most of these suggestions are for parents, they range from $50 up to $400 in price. Just keep in mind, that most of these will require some technical know how from the parents to support the kid.

LEGO Mindstorms Kit

349.95 - Amazon Suggested Age 8-14

This is the big obvious one. Most children have LEGO, most children love robots. The predecessor to this kit was what got me started 15 years ago with robotics and it’s only gotten better. The new version of this kit connects to Wifi and bluetooth, is remotely controllable from smartphones, and is fully programmable using included software. In short, if you want to kickstart an interest in robotics, this is the most common way to do it. Not technical yourself? Fret not, there’s a plethora of books and websites out there dedicated to fixing issues.

Ok, yes, it’s expensive. But it’s only slightly more than an XBox One. But I get that, I’d suggest looking on EBay or Craigslist to find a used one or the older edition. While the EV3 is faster most kids won’t ever push the limits of the older version.

VEX IQ Super Kit

299.99 Suggested Age 8-14

Ok, I’m hesitant to put this on here, it’s similar in functionality to the Mindstorms kit above (programming, building, etc) but it has a slightly more Erector Set quality to it. As a building system it also has slightly more advanced parts such as omni directional wheels and a wide range of sensors. The reason I’m hesitant to add it is because it’s actually NOT available in time for the holidays. It ships in 8 weeks, so maybe a birthday gift. The reason I have to include it is because it is coupled with a full training curriculum.

There’s also the bigger VEX Robotics kit, it clocks in even pricier at $499 plus a license for the programming tool and the actual programming hardware. It’s really pricey. Solid, extensible, and real robotics tools.

Sphero

$99 Suggested Age 6-14

Ok, a bit cheaper on this one. This is more of a toy, it’s a bluetooth controlled robot that kids can control from their smart devices (or yours). It’s water proof, it’s drop proof, it’s fun. But want to know the real fun part? It’s fully programmable in a variety of languages. There’s a ton of apps out there for doing different things with it. It’s not terribly extensible but if you’ve got young kids who are rough on toys, this might be a good one for you.

SFE RedBot

$74.95 Suggested Age 12-16

Up until now the requisite technical knowhow has all been included or easily available. Here’s where we go off the rails a bit. This is a robot kit. It requires some basic tools to get started (ok, it requires a screwdriver and that’s included). No soldering is needed for this kit, everything is plug and play. But the kit is useless unless it is programmed. The good news, the Arduino environment is considered quite beginner friendly and there’s a lot of support. If your child is interested in programming this is probably one of the cheapest mobile kits out there for it. (I looked several years ago, the only ones I could find reasonable prices on were some chassis from China with no drivers and the documentation was in Chinese. These are actually cheaper than that!) As an aside, I trust Sparkfun to stand by their product, if you have issues contacting them will likely resolve them.

Those are some of the suggestions I have made. Don’t forget there’s always the options of purchasing a Raspberry Pi and installing Minecraft on it , playing with Arduinos, or maybe even spending some time learning to program together. And you know what? If you don’t feel comfortable doing this stuff alone, find your local hackerspace/makerspace and I’m sure there’ll be dozens of folks who would love to help you.

Happy Holidays.