PCB – Printed Circuit Board Fun Projects for Kids | AdvancedPCB

At AdvancedPCB we take pride in sponsoring youth science competitions and we offer students discounts on PCBs for use in their engineering projects. We also keep an eye out for fun ways that young people can learn more about printed circuit boards and electronics.

Did you know that you can make dozens of amazing things using a little ingenuity and some simple kits? Here are a few project kits that can help you take your ideas and make them into real working applications:

Little Bits:

This popular set of electronics kits offers modules and sets that allow makers to create hundreds of different projects. Why not make something that can solve a common problem in many households — Need to ensure that the garage door is kept shut when it’s supposed to be? You can build a Garage Door Monitor with Little Bits! Problem solved! This monitor is an ingenious invention that works by measuring light levels (if you get a high level of light from the door being open, this device will be able to read it). Now all you need to do is combine this sensor with a smartphone app to close it, if necessary.

Sparkfun:

This site is a veritable treasure trove of electronics projects! One of their most interesting sections is their robotics category. Get several kids together and build several MiP Robots. These can be controlled and directed to dance, respond to hand motions, and interact with other MiP robots. Anyone familiar with the WowWee robots will thrill to the MiP’s ability to react to hand gestures, thanks to WowWee’s own GESTURESENSE™ technology.

MakerShed:

This is the official store of Make. What’s good about this store is that it is very easy to navigate. You can search by project difficulty, or by project type. Or you can just browse around and click on the image of a project that you like. One of these is the Bigshot Camera Kit. Imagine making your own digital camera!

These are but a few of the fun kits out there today – here’s a list of several more you can check out:

http://lifehacker.com/the-best-electronics-starter-kits-1515941488

What’s great about these and similar sets is that they usually require little to no electronics experience. Kids of all ages (and their parents), can start with a simple project, then work their way up to more complex creations. The only problem you may have is deciding what to make first!

Sparkfun’s How to Use a Breadboard

Aspiring electronics wizards will want to get right to work on one of these fun projects. A breadboard is basically named after an actual breadboard that hobbyists sometimes took from kitchens and used as a base to create a circuit. This tutorial is modeled after that same design and can teach kids (and their parents too!) all about prototyping a circuit so they can test out their ideas.

The tutorial is great because not only will kids learn about the history of breadboards and what can be done with them (Sparkfun talks about how they use them to replicate customer problems and do testing) but also it provides a complete list of everything needed to work with breadboards and learn all about them. Hey kids! Ask Mom or Dad if you have some of the items already in the tool box at home, then get some help ordering or buying the rest locally. These breadboards can provide many hours of project fun.

Have we whet your appetite for breadboard projects? Then check out Instructables’ ‘10 Breadboard Projects For Beginners.’ No soldering is needed. Kids can explore all of these circuit projects and learn how to make a Musical Bell, four kinds of LED lights, electronic dice and more. Rainy days don’t have to be boring anymore with these projects, and parents might really enjoy them, too.

All of these project kits are certainly inspiring! We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them. Please take a moment to review all the features of our Engineering Student Program. You can get multilayer PCB design discounts plus we offer details about how to use our FreeDFM tool and PCB Artist software.