Electronics > Beginners
connectors for children
<< < (3/5) > >>
Gyro:
Just seeing the thread title, my immediate though was some form of Umbilical.  :D
tggzzz:

--- Quote from: brumbarchris on May 08, 2018, 05:45:46 am ---I currently try to teach my 8 years old boy the basic first steps in electronics, in a way a child would like (so not Ohm's or Kirchhoff or anything of the sort, but how to light up some LEDs from the battery or how to make a buzzer sound, or how to spin a motor for his LEGO cars etc).

But I am having difficulties in identifying some easy to use suitable wire-to-wire connectors which can be easily handled by a child. I am currently using some regular screw-based terminal blocks, like the ones in the attached picture. But these always need a screwdriver and while easy to use by an adult, they can be daunting for a child. And the hole thing changes from learning the basics of electronics into "try to make that connection".

--- End quote ---

Good for you, but I think you are being too worried. I was certainly using choc blocks on my model railway by the age of 8. At 9 I was changing 240V mains plugs (don't ask!) myself, but my father did insist he checked them before they were plugged in.

Don't underestimate the ability of kids; usually it is better to throw them in at the deep end, but be around to make sure they don't sink. I used that thinking to backpack around India with my 14yo, and have her learning to fly aircraft. She accused me of "wrapping her in cotton wool", but recanted her mistake when she saw what other university students hadn't done.

Unless the child has a disability, I would simply show them what to do, let them do it, let them make their own mistakes, and be there to make sure the mistakes aren't too bad!
brumbarchris:
Yeah, thing is he does not seem too interested in that (electronics). He does not seem to interested in anything, as a matter of fact, except things that bring almost instant gratification - I am not a psychologist but I perceive this as not being too un-natural for an 8-years old. Sure, there are special kids who have the character and interest to closely follow up on specific objectives, but he is not one of those (although he is reasonably bright). I guess that is one of the side effects of having early access to Clash Royal type of games on the mobile phone (access curtailed heavily in the meanwhile).

Anyway, now I am working more to build up his ability to pursue goals which need some more than 5 minutes effort (like playing Go, for instance). An electronics simple circuit can be a 1-2 hours, but not if you need to struggle 5 minutes to screw a wire in - he will lose interest in the whole picture after 3 wires.

Regards,
Cristian
Ian.M:
An eight year old boy shouldn't be screwdriver adverse!  >:(

See http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Bookshelf/Author-Groups/G.C.Dobbs/Learnabout...%20Simple-Electronics-Dobbs.pdf for what a bright child could be expected to handle in the days before the internet made parents excessively risk-adverse and cheap Android devices turned most kids into couch potatoes.
If I was revising it for modern components, I'd stick a small solderless breadboard in the middle of the baseboard to avoid most of the hassle with extending leads, with the screws and screw-cups round the outside for larger parts and off-board wiring.  I'd also substitute current production NPN silicon transistors with a Hfe of about 200.  TO-92 2N2222 equivalents should do nicely.   The only other component change would be for the amplifier circuit on page 23, where the lower resistor in the base bias divider should be increased from 10K to 15K to compensate for the higher Vbe of a Silicon transistor v.s. the original Germanium one.

That construction method has been obsoleted by the solderless breadboard, but is still good for kids experimenting with basic circuits.  The screw-cups need to be brass or heavily brass plated, but the screws can be ordinary steel ones, which has the advantage that the slot in their heads is stronger.   You may need to prepare the baseboard for him, pre-drilling the holes, and running a screw into each to form a thread in the wood - which only takes a few seconds with a reversible battery drill and a long screw of the right diameter, with its head cut off in the chuck as a thread forming tool.  Its also worth spending a bit of time sanding the ends and edges, and giving it a coat of wax melted into the surface with a hot air gun, then wiping off any excess.

Teach him that pre-drilling to just under the root diameter of the thread + waxing the screw on a candle makes it much safer and easier to put screws into wood. For drilling holes, I strongly recommend a pistol grip hand drill. e.g. https://www.drapertools.com/product/13841/8mm-or-3-8inch-Chuck-Pistol-Grip-Hand-Drill, and a small set of good HSS bits with several spares of all the ones 3mm and under.  Make a house rule that the drill may only be used at the workbench.

Get him some good screwdrivers with comfortable handles that are sized to fit his hands, make a house rule that anything mains powered, or worth more than $20 can only be worked on under your supervision and teach him to attach the choc-block connectors to a wooden board, as the biggest risk is stabbing one's palm or finger when attempting to turn a stiff or jammed choc-block screw while holding the choc-block.  For safety and efficiency, the screwdriver blade *MUST* be a good fit in the screw slot, as thick as will fit properly and about 90% of the width of the head.   
sokoloff:

--- Quote from: brumbarchris on May 08, 2018, 12:51:52 pm ---Yeah, thing is he does not seem too interested in that (electronics). He does not seem to interested in anything, as a matter of fact, except things that bring almost instant gratification - I am not a psychologist but I perceive this as not being too un-natural for an 8-years old.
--- End quote ---
Work with, not against, the grain here. Make the first project something that gives (almost) instant gratification.

I knocked together some LED flashlights with scraps I had around the house one rainy day with my then-5-year old.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4304126&postcount=421

Almost 4 years later, those flashlights are still on their dresser and they still play with/use them.

Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod