Electronics related gift ideas for seven year old kid?

[TheWelly888]

My godson will be seven years old soon and I'm wondering if it is not too early to try to get him interested in electronics?

Did anyone buy something electronics related for their child, grandchild, nephew/niece or godson/goddaughter that went down well?

I might get him something for Christmas rather than his seventh birthday in October so it isn't urgent.

[Codemonkey]

I'd buy him either a book on law or one on medicine. Don't doom him to a life of misery as an engineer!

[c4757p]

A screwdriver, and a liability waiver from his parents.

[nctnico]

Over here they have experiment kits under a brand name called Spektro (use Google to find more). These are suitable for relatively young children and AFAIK they also come with an English manual.

[Stonent]

At his age I had those xx in one kits from Radio Shack, now sold under the Elenco brand. I was also programming in BASIC. Imagine of Arduino existed back then.

[Hydrawerk]

Buy him an simple electronics lab kit. (Photos not taken by me!)

[Stonent]

Yes those kits.

[c4757p]

These kits are awesome. If you get him one, you may not be able to pry him away from it

[elgonzo]

These kits are awesome. If you get him one, you may not be able to pry him away from it

Indeed.
If you get one of these Science Fair kits, your kid will get nothing.
Because you will be playing with it, impersonating Montgomery Scott.
God, i love the looks of it...

[jancumps]

They are too complex for your common 7 year old.
Or my kids were behind the norm at that age : )

[c4757p]

They are too complex for your common 7 year old.
Or my kids were behind the norm at that age : )

That's why I said "screwdriver", I was only half joking about that. Most seven year olds, if they're going to be responsive to this at all, will be happier to look inside stuff. But I definitely had things like this when I was seven, and I'm willing to bet a lot of people here did as well.

I hate to say that some kids are "better at" electronics than others - I firmly believe that any non-disabled human can learn nearly anything with enough effort - but some are definitely more predisposed to nerdy pursuits, and I think these kids will have no problem with a kit like this, even if they don't 100% understand every single thing in it.

[jancumps]

I was actualy thinking more bout motoric ability than understanding what's going on.

[NiHaoMike]

I actually got one of those kits around that age. I wouldn't call it too complex.

[daveshah]

A '60-in-1' version of those is where I started with electronics around 6-7 years old

[tszaboo]

I got hooked up on electronics because of model trains. We had a 3 train 2m big circle TT setup when I was a child. I remember playing with it since I was five every now and then. Expect to spend a lot on it.

[Neilm]

I actually got one of those kits around that age. I wouldn't call it too complex.

Ditto - it was a simple one and I always was annoyed that I couldn't do half of the projects in the project book.

It started a life long interest in electronics.

[elgonzo]

I got hooked up on electronics because of model trains. We had a 3 train 2m big circle TT setup when I was a child. I remember playing with it since I was five every now and then. Expect to spend a lot on it.

TT scale in Belgium? That must have been in the 50s/60s then 

[JohnnyGringo]

Let me climb up on my soap box for a few words please.

  This applies to any field of interest.  I suggest, don't just buy a child a *toy* and then tell them to go play with it. Find a project that both of you can work on together.

  Invent situations where you have to do a particular task, and tell them that you absolutely *need* their help to get it done.  Children love to help their parents (up to a certain age <grin> ), it makes them feel like a grownup. The gift you are really giving is your time, there is nothing more precious in the world. Not just some box of parts that may just collect dust somewhere, or books that go unread. 

  I think the screwdriver and discarded junk was the best idea (RE: c4757p), but, make it a partnership.

  Don't just hand them a screwdriver and tell them to go take the world apart, and report back to me what you find and learned along the way. (Too much like homework)

[Hydrawerk]

Yes, since I was 7 years old or so I dismantled many non-working radios, VCRs, telephones, reel tape recorders and even a washing machine...

[c4757p]

I also dismantled many non-working* radios, VCRs, telephones, etc...

*I swear it was! That was already broken!

[fpga]

A 7 year old should definitely be able to handle the simple electronics lab kits. As long as it has him/her building circuits with switches, lights, motors, buzzers, etc., with clear step by step instructions written for their level.

At age 8 I was building Radio Shack kits involving soldering components to a PCB. At age 9 I built my first short wave radio all by myself, and it worked when I powered it on for the first time. Unfortunately at that age I was hooked on electronics and that doomed the rest of my life to being an engineer.

[fpga]

Ah yes, I remember going to the dump with my Dad. He would go there to dispose of trash, I'd go there to pick up discarded radios and TV's. Sometimes I'd also get something with an interesting motor like mixer, drill, or sewing machine.

I had tons of fun taking them apart, removing components, etc. I learned a lot about how things were put together and identifying components. Kind of like what Dave does in his videos, but from a 7 to 10 year old perspective.

The only problem is that giving a 7 year old a busted old TV, radio, or computer might not receive the same enthusiasm from the parents.

[Neilm]

The only problem is that giving a 7 year old a busted old TV, radio, or computer might not receive the same enthusiasm from the parents.

True - but give him a small transformer and a pair of AA batteries and tell him he can give his brother a shock and that would get his interest. Although having said that, it did annoy my brother

[tszaboo]

I got hooked up on electronics because of model trains. We had a 3 train 2m big circle TT setup when I was a child. I remember playing with it since I was five every now and then. Expect to spend a lot on it.

TT scale in Belgium? That must have been in the 50s/60s then 

I only live in Belgium recently, and not that old  . On the other side of the iron curtain it was more famous size.

[nctnico]

In my experience kids have different interests nowadays with the availability of internet and games and so on. My youngest has some interest in technical stuff but every time I try to take on a project (building a Lego model for instance) it just leaves me building the damn thing and him on the computer chatting with his online friends. My oldest has no interest in technical stuff OTOH it took him about 30 minutes to circumvent the time limit I set in our internet router  .