ElencoLED Robot Blinker Soldering Kit [ SOLDERING REQUIRED ]

I bought several soldering kits for my son who just turned 8 for his birthday, along with a X-Tronic model 4010 digital soldering iron station (which I also recommend). I picked this model as the first for him to build. It is one of the easiest "learn to solder" models available on Amazon - relatively few parts and plenty of room for each component. It took a little over an hour for him to complete, with some guidance from me on how to solder. I liked that the manual contains explanations on how this circuit works, and what to do if it does not work. It is a nice supplement if your child studies electronics using a breadboard and wants to know how to solder, but I find it a little difficult to imagine how it would work if neither child nor parent has experience with soldering and troubleshooting electronic circuits.Once it is built, there is not much to do with it. When connected to a battery, two pairs of red LEDs blink alternatively. There is not a stand, just a PC board connected with wires to a battery. Not much of a toy once assembled.On a slightly negative side, the kit does not do much, if anything, to encourage understanding of how this circuit works. There are some basic explanations, but one has to know at least some electronics to understand them. Parent involvement can greatly enhance the learning experience.Electronics is a good subject for a kid to study because it involves physics, math, and some materials science.

This is an extremely simple circuit - although you need some non-trivial knowledge of electronics (in particular, a non-dumbed-down understanding of transistors) to figure out how it works. It is also not very useful, but its simplicity and the visual appeal of the slowly blinking LEDs is a great way to introduce younger kids to soldering. Props to Elenco for pricing it reasonably, too.

Those aren't mini-LEDs!This simple, yet pleasing kit is very generously sized at 5x6 inches in deep blue with white mask. Large traces (>1/8") on the back makes for easy soldering.Instructions include theory of operation, quiz, componed ID charts, and schematic.Nifty and old school!Elenco perhaps superior to competitor kits...

Easy to assemble. 7 yr old had fun doing it, and everything worked.

Well done as far as packaging goes, I even assembled the kit.

This was a lot of fun, very easy, and a good learning kit, but the wires in the battery connected snapped straight off at the point where they were soldered into the board just a few days after it was assembled. I guess I now get to learn how to remove solder, pull the insulation from the wire, and fix it.

Good

Was a good starter for my son. He had a lot of fun with this kit.

Easy to put together, I had a great time helping my 12 y.o.. He was really pumped up after getting this to light up.

I bought 3 of those to my son and his friends. We tried and it didn't work and one of our friends as well, nothing happened (((

Bought this to teach my son electronics. Great item, great price.

Great soldering and electronics learning tool