Recommendations for STEM toys

[ThomasRichard]

I thought we could share ideas for good STEM toys :)

I've got DS (5) an ozobot, which works by following lines drawn on a piece of paper or a tablet, doing different movements depending on the colour of the line.

DD (2) is getting Playmags, which follow the same concept as Magna Tiles.

I've also been recommended this electronics kit, which looks fab.

Oh wow, I want an Ozbot now!
Thank you for this fred

Silverhawk I don't want to appear a bit silly but was your question to me?

Periodic Table t-shirts.

Did I ask you a question, elephantover?

Good one ThomasRichard. Thanks for the link. I will try and choose one 'cos I think they are funny, but you seem good at this present stuff. DC1 is doing astrospace engineering. Well some thing to do with sending rockets or people into space. Don't ask me, I get vertigo.

You should buy him his own star and challenge him to send something there :)

www.brightminds.co.uk/cambridge-brainbox-primary-2-electronics-kit/p66
This seems to be a good UK version of the snap circuits set (importing from the US seems v pricey).
I bought some Goldie Blox for my 6 year old. They have a movie maker app that looks good. 2 sets are on sale in Hamleys for around £25.
Lego Mindstorms is fiendishly expensive :(
The Ozobot robot has poor reviews. sphero is meant to be good, though what the use is of a programmable app controlled ball is I have no idea!

An alternative to Castle logix is Camelot Jnr:
www.amazon.co.uk/Smart-Games-Camelot-Puzzle-Game/dp/B0012CQFX6/ref=pd_sim_21_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0R5EXQ3SA06S1JED24EG&dpID=61hP6DlqPWL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR160%2C160

Very tactile, and like all really good games it's simple to understand but the later levels are properly challenging (to my little brain anyway). Expensive but it has had a lot of play.

Have you asked your parents (or GPs) how they got into engineering?
DH used to play with plugs and old awitches.
it was this SilverHawk only because I mentioned my PFB Grandfather.

Dd1 got snap circuits for her birthday (she's 11) and loves it. She's built a radio, a voice recorder and a lie detector. Do also built an ohm-meter to test current to parts of my tumble dryer when it died....

ThomasRichard what a great idea. I am quite sure he will never land anything on it but buying a star! I confess to watching antiques road trip tonight and they did buy and sell a metorite.

We've had a bunch of STEM toys over the years and the thing that has definitely repaid its investment in years of use is the Natural History Museum's mini microscope here - also available from Amazon.

We also enjoyed a Triops set, but because our kitchen window sill is a bit chilly we ended up with Fairy Shrimp not Triops.

Thanks for this thread, loads of ideas for my two and maybe dh.

m.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROMO-Robot-Iphone-4-4s-Ipod-touch-4th-Gen-/111784552501?nav=SEARCH
This is good if you have an older ipod or iphone 4 going spare.

By the way, the STEM present which has entertained the DC most in terms of bangs per bucks over the last 5 years was a boxed set of Horrible Science books. They've been read and reread constantly, and cost about two quid each.

Thanks for the ideas on this thread - the Ozobot looks great! DS(7) got Hot Wires for his birthday this year and loved it so can definitely recommend.

Not for Christmas, but we buy/have bought lots of stuff from here in the past. I suppose you could dress it up in a nice box etc., great range.

www.schoolslab.com

Does anyone have any Murderous Maths books, and if so, what age group would you say they're aimed at?

DS is nearly 7. Decent reader (copper level) but exceptionally gifted in maths. I would think I'd need to pitch it at his reading level, not his maths level. Any thoughts?

I think he'll probably need another year or two before he can read the text of MM tbh. It's very idiomatic text and IMO a little bit tougher than the Horrible Histories/Science books. You could always borrow one from a library or get one from a second hand shop and wave it under his nose to gauge his reaction.

Thanks Anyone, that's really useful. I don't think he'd manage a whole Horrible Histories without support yet.

The box set is £10 on Book People. I'm tempted to get it anyway, he's bound to want them at some point.

Oh get it anyway then and shove it in the attic.

Some great ideas here.

Hot Wires is really good, v popular in our house.

Ds1 has just started astrology club at school so trying to think of some related present ideas for him.

As well as Lego sets, we have a big box of random Lego bits that the dcs make their own creations from. Ours is actually mine from when I was a kid but I'm sure you could pick some up from eBay/fb selling groups etc.

Ooh, brilliant thread.

(Though how on earth did anyone manage to get arsey about this? Boggle!)

Please god tell me that astrology club was a typo....