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6 Awesome Kits To Get Your Kids Into STEM

Posted by Lauren on Jun 4, 2018 11:02:00 AM
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STEM

6 Awesome Kits To Get Your Kids Into STEM  

 

Summer Break is right around the corner for many kids. Which means they will be telling you they are bored in no time. Not this Summer parents!  Keep their skills sharp over Summer break with these awesome STEM kits. All of these kits are available on Amazon. 

 

Note: Prices of products could change, these were the prices when making this blog post. The links to buy are down below in the sources section. 

 

What is STEM? 

STEM is an educational program developed to prepare primary and secondary students for college and graduate study in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In addition to subject-specific learning, STEM aims to foster inquiring minds, logical reasoning, and collaboration skills. 

Educators break STEM down into seven standards of practice (or skill sets) for educating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students:

  • Learn and apply content
  • Integrate content
  • Interpret and communicate information
  • Engage in inquiry
  • Engage in logical reasoning
  • Collaborate with a team
  • Apply technology appropriately

 

 Awesome Kits You Should Invest In Now

 

 

1) "Let's Start Coding" Ultimate Kit 

ultimate_coding_kit

About:

All the fun of coding and circuits. None of the headache. Let's Start Coding has combined easy-to-use electronics, online lessons and videos, and example code to bring your kids the best way to start learning real code. Parents, you don't have to be an expert to get them started; kids begin with our pre-written code and 'tinker', experimenting with the code and trying out our challenges.

Need/s: Windows, Mac, or Chromebook Computer 

Manufacturer Recommended Age: 10-15 years old 

Amazon Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

Amazon Price: $114.99 

 

2) Piper Computer Kit | with Minecraft Raspberry Pi edition

 

About: 

Today's kids grow up with "black box" phones, computers and gadgets that come in beautiful packages, but leave no room for tinkering or understanding how they work. At Piper, we believe it is critical to understand how technology works to make sense of our environment and invent the future. The Piper Computer Kit comes with everything you need to assemble your computer. 

Inside, you will also find our revolutionary learning system that teaches kids engineering and programming through a combination of engaging storyline, physical building, and Raspberry Pi Edition of Minecraft. The kit contains: 

● Beautiful, hand­crafted wooden computer case with HD LCD display
● Fully functioning computer running on a Raspberry Pi 3 Project Board. 1GB RAM. 1200 MHzQuad­Core CPU
● Electronic gadgets including LED lights, buzzers, buttons, switches, sensors and more
● Cables to connect the screen, Pi and 6600 mAh powerbank together
● 8 square foot laminated blueprint explaining how to assemble your Piper Computer
● USB mouse with a retractable cable
● An 8GB SD card that holds your game progress and keeps your creations safe
● Custom Raspberry Pi Edition of Minecraft adventure that you experience by building and programming electronic modules
● Wifi enabled, new downloadable levels, and sharing capabilities
● Free automatic level updates
● It even comes with a Piper Screwdriver!


Manufactuer Recommended Age: 8-13 

Amazon Rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars

Amazon Price: $298.90

 

 3) Boolean Box for Girls 

boolean_box

About: 

Boolean Box is a self-contained computer engineering kit for girls (and boys). The Boolean Box computer kit comes preloaded with software including Minecraft to learn coding. It’s got a mouse and a keyboard, so your kids don't have to borrow yours.  It is easy and fun to build your own computer. Open the box, connect it to your HDMI-capable TV, and it is ready to use.  It is designed for children 8 and up to build without help.  And, there’s no internet connection required.  It’s simple to use and fun, we promise! Girls can learn coding, build electronics, and more. They can create their own projects or use the projects on the Boolean Girl website, www.booleangirl.org (free with the purchase of a Boolean Box).    The kit contains a Raspberry Pi, a basic computer built for learning how to code and comes with the curriculum we have used to teach hundreds of girls in our camps and classes. The Boolean Box contains everything a girl (or boy) needs to code in Scratch or Python and complete simple circuitry tasks, such as the game controller project.

 Need/s : HDMI- capable TV 

Manufacturer Recommended Age: 7 years and up 

Amazon Rating: 4.8 out of 5 Stars 

Amazon Price: $149.99

 

 4) Nintendo Labo (Variety Kit) 

 

About: 

  • The Variety Kit includes five different projects to Make, Play, and Discover: two Toy-Con RC Cars, a Toy-Con Fishing Rod, a Toy-Con House, a Toy-Con Motorbike, and a Toy-Con Piano!
  • Bring each Toy-Con creation to life with the power of the Nintendo Switch™ console and Joy-Con™ controllers
  • Discover the fun of customizing Toy-Con creations with your own stickers, markers, paint, new parts, and other original crafting ideas.
  • Experiment with a fun and powerful in-game visual tool in Toy-Con Garage, where you connect input, output, and middle nodes to create your own basic or elaborate ideas for Toy-Con creations!
  • With the Variety Kit and the included Toy-Con Garage mode, you can invent new ways to play with your Toy-Con Fishing Rod, Motorbike, House, and Piano by using special input nodes or create your very own Toy-Con projects!

Need/s: Nintendo Switch Gaming System 

Manufacturer Recommended Age: I think this really comes down to how gentle your kids are

Amazon Rating: 4.7 out of 5 Stars 

Amazon Price: $69.99 

 

 

 5) Little Tikes "Build-A-House" 

littletikes_ build-a-house

 

About: 

Build it your way! Create your very own playhouse with Little Tikes Build-a-House! Kids can customize the look of the house with interchangeable panels and easy-to-use tools. Great for the backyard, basement or any playroom. They can build it, take it apart, and rebuild it to create endless variations! 

** Please note that this playhouse is not built like other Little Tikes playhouses, this playhouse is meant for children to assemble and disassemble easily.

Manufacturer Recommended Age: 3 and up 

Amazon Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Price: $149.59 

 

6) STEM Club Toy Subscription: 

Stem-Club

 

About:

This subscription box comes in three age categories:  3-4 years old, 5-7 years old, and 8-13 years old. You also have the option of how often you receive your box, monthly, every two months, or every three months. 

Manufacturer Recommended Age: categories that range from 3-13 years old 

Amazon Rating: 4.3 out of 5 Stars

Amazon Price: $19.99/ box 

 

  Read: 5 Tips To Keep Your  Child Safe On Social Media 

 

Sources: 

Piper Computer  

https://www.amazon.com/Piper-Computer-Minecraft-Raspberry-Educational/dp/B016HLFW44/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1527110438&sr=8-1&keywords=Piper+computer+kit 

 

Little Tikes Build-a-House

Amazon , www.amazon.com/Little-Tikes-645846-Build-a-House/dp/B075TQ1C1R/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1527109202&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=little+tikes+build+a+house&psc=1+

 

STEM Club 

Amazon , www.amazon.com/dp/B01M71IUZ7?ref=vs_stem_main_t2_r1_c2_stemclub__desktop_vsf&pf_rd_r=HJRWA265VZAE024PY7FV&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_t=Landing&pf_rd_i=&pf_rd_p=e551d455-2a59-4b0f-b121-f16eab169ee8&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-grid-t1-r1-c2+

 

Ultimate Coding Kit 

Amazon , www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Coding-Typed-Lessons-Included/dp/B075RSGWR4/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1527109665&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=coding+kit&psc=1+

 

Nintendo Labo 

“Nintendo Labo - Variety Kit.” Amazon, Amazon, www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Labo-Variety-Kit-Switch/dp/B01MY7GL3O/ref

 

Rouse , Margaret, and Stan Gibilisco. “What Is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)? - Definition from WhatIs.com.” WhatIs.com, Apr. 2013, whatis.techtarget.com/definition/STEM-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics. 

 

Topics: Family Topics