littleBits Electronic Music Inventor Kit - for 96 months to 132 months, Build, Customize, & Play Your Own Educational & Fun High-Tech Instruments!

I got the Electronic Music Inventor kit for my 9 year old. Our household is no stranger to STEM toys, and a friend recommended this. Overall this was a great kit. My son really enjoyed both building and playing the guitar, and the step by step app made assembly easy and guided us through a bunch of additional activities.Our first takeaway, other than the cool packaging, was that little bits was less ”figure it out it yourself,” and more step by step than other STEM toys we had. The instructions in the box walk you through building a small Theremin sounding circuit (think Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations) and then point you to the app. Important note: the are two Little Bit apps. One that has the actual instructions and another that is more of a community app. Make sure you download the app that matches the logo in the instructions- there are two little bits apps, only one of which has the step by step instructions.The bits easily connect together magnetically. The core bits for the guitar are a tone generator, a single octave keyboard and a four note sequencer that plays a continuous rhythm. Also included are an accelerometer, which serve as a whammy bar, and a proximity sensor, which gets you into true Theremin territory. My son was having a blast before we even put the guitar together. His favorite configuration for the guitar involved the proximity sensor and sequencer. Obviously this doesn’t sound like a real guitar, but my son kept tinkering until he was making real music with it.I would had preferred if the kit came with more connectors bits, and also would have liked if there was more space on the guitar itself to connect everything. The app is great, however, and walks you through a bunch of different configurations that help you get the most from the kit. It’s been a week after we’ve received the kit, and my son still keeps it close at hand- the unmistakable sound emanates from his room at all hours.

I'm not finished with this product. In fact, I haven't even fully assembled the actual guitar, because I was having trouble downloading the instructions. What I have done, though, is played with the individual bits included with the kit and had a BLAST. I didn't really know much about synthesized music before, and even though I'm hardly an expert now, I understand it much better. You CAN do all kinds of cool stuff just by playing around with the components!! And you can really combine them with the bits from other kits!!! I do want to complete the kit and actually learn about the components, but I was sufficiently impressed with what I've done so far to rate this product highly, WITH a caveat about the download. Maybe physical instructions PLUS online information would help, so kids could get started even if there's technical issues.Cost may be an additional issue - it was with me, because I've wanted to try Littlebits for years, and they were finally included in Prime day. They are worth their regular price point, in my opinion, if you can afford it. So, putting the download issues aside, which you CLEARLY need to fix, this kit is DEFINITELY giftable otherwise, especially to a young musician, and pretty cool, too!

We completed the build for the Key-guitar, and it was easy to do so. It was also quick and my five year old daughter was able to put the pieces together. The Little Bits kits allow kids to build something almost immediately out of the box and then mix and match pieces together to innovate. I love how the pieces interconnect and make learning fun. You don't need to be an expert or an engineer to build this or explain it.For reference, I have an electrical engineering degree, and this is one of the simplest products I have encountered for teaching children about different EE concepts such as circuits, power, input, output, LEDs, and whatever specific parts are included in the kits.

Target group: elementary K-5 public school with a STEAM innovative program designation. Our 5th graded gifted/high achiever class assisted with this review, along with other reviews for littleBits invention kits that we purchased.Pros:-Students were very engaged after opening and organizing parts and materials.-Allowed students to tinker with individual components to see how they worked without initial instruction (Makerspace mentality).-Encourages collaboration as a small group activity.-App interface was easy to access, use, and follow. Videos were detailed for builds, and completion unlocked the next video/build.-From the viewpoint of a teacher, various builds can lead to connections to science standards (series circuits, forms of energy, forces & motion, the scientific process, etc). The music kit attracted the interest of pianist student and his friends, and they had a lot of fun putting together the guitar and getting it to play music!-Will be a great addition to our future Makerspace room!Cons:-Build instructions should also be available online (web-based). Not all schools readily have access to smart devices like phones or tablets. My students had to use their own personal devices (elementary students don't all have smart phones).-Cardboard components may not last if the kits are disassembled and passed on in a school setting. I would consider plastic molds/parts.

I had ordered two of these for prior gifts and they came in excellent condition, but this one did not.The other two were also 27.00 as opposed to the $10 increase in price, yet they arrived in better condition.I feel stuck with this because the returning process takes a lot of time away from work.Now I am out the money and still need to purchase a gift.I love the concept of these little bits, but may reconsider purchasing more.