Product Description
Elenco
snap Circuits Pro 500-in-1:
Elenco's new snap Circuits makes learning electronics easy and fun! Just follow the colorful pictures in our manual and build exciting projects such as FM radios, digital voice recorders, AM radios, burglar alarms, doorbells and much more! You can even play electronic games with your friends.
All parts are mounted on plastic modules and snap together with ease. Enjoy hours of educational fun while learning about electronics. No tools required. Uses 4 AA batteries
Pro Version - Contains over 75 parts including voice recording IC, FM radio module, analog meter, transformer, relay, and 7-segment LED display. Build over 500 experiments.
I bought this for my son's 9th birthday after we noticed a friend of his had a smaller version of this product. (the SC-300, I think)
The product arrived with a little damage to the box top surface, but all parts inside were in good condition.
There are A LOT of projects that any kid over 8 would love to make.
It is a good parent/child inter-action toy that never gets old and boring.
The projects start easy and become more complicated in size and scope.
My son loves playing with it and it is now one of his favorites.
It is fun, educational, and a great introduction to electrical circuits for both kids and adults who have no experience. The only down side is that there aren't always good explanations regarding the mechanism by which some components operate (e.g. the whistle chip), but you can figure it out by asking around online. The product could be improved if a booklet was included that explained the inner workings of the components and maybe included some theoretical background (definition of things like resistance, electrical laws, equations, etc.) and experiments to verify these electrical laws. If you're an adult or have a bright child, it probably won't entertain you for too long (unless you want to get creative and design your own verification experiments which I just might do), but you will gain some basic knowledge and confidence that will get you started in your pursuit of electronics knowledge. I highly recommend this product, but I also recommend you get an introductory electronics book to use in conjunction with it to maximize you or your child's learning.
I should like to refer to the excellent review by Eric Verwillow. The toy is the work of genius, but the manuals could use a refresh, the web sites are the work of a pre-Internet generation (The company was founded 30 years ago by two electrical engineers), and marketing is not exactly a priority. Mr Verwillow's links to correction pages and the upgrade kits require a bit of sleuthing to find.
[...].
Elenco.com tries to cover their educational market, soldering kits, and non-toy devices.[...].
Other than the upgrades kit the key parts to consider are the combination of the Student Guide (experiments up to SC-300) and the Student Guide extension (covers the added experiments of the SC-750). Some Elenco documents mention a teacher's manual, but I get the sense that's obsolete.
I had to print out a paper form to order these, and even do my own arithmetic! First time I've done that in over 10 years. There is a (third) online site for ordering the manuals and other parts but it was so poorly done I preferred to trust the post office.
This toy really is a blast from the past, but it's wonderful.
I don't recommend the SC-750, I think if you're looking for more experiments beyond these 500 you can either order the upgrade kit from the 500 to 750 or look at other Elenco products.
Update 2/22/09: I have received the two student manuals I ordered -- the base manual for the SC-300 and the extension for the SC-500. They provide the educational background that's missing from the retail kit; they're very well done. I recommend ordering the student manuals, I think Elemco/SnapCircuits should include an order form with every kit.
When my child first asked for this "toy" for Christmas, I was stumped because I had never heard of such a thing. I was able to find the item here on Amazon. Even though the item seemed pricey at first, I went ahead and ordered it so I could fulfill my child's wish. As I watched him construct circuit after circuit and project after project, I realized that he was not only having fun, he was also learning a great deal about what makes the everyday electronics in our lives tick. The smile on his face made it worth every penny, and the knowledge he is gaining is priceless.
My son is 11 years old. He saw one of these at his cousin's house a couple of months ago and asked if he could get one for Christmas. It has been non-stop "circuits" ever since. He's learning so much and is fascinated by the different projects. He'll be busy learning stuff for a while...it came with 3 Books full of experiments!
I wasn't sure if this product would be good for my son's 11th birthday, but decided to go for it. He couldn't stop playing with it. This 500 project set had three books of "projects" for him to put together. Each project has easy to follow directions with a description of why it works. The science teacher at our middle school is requesting the PTA to purchase several of the smaller snap circuits sets for her science lab, so it must be good education.
I bought this as a 7th birthday gift for my son, who is the kind of kid who wants to know how everything works. It comes with the plastic board to build circuits on, many, many circuit pieces, and three books of projects. It's been almost a month, and he is using this, and I'm not exaggerating, 3 or more hours per day -- first thing in the morning, after school, before bed... he just loves it. He quickly moved from following directions in the book to trying to modify the circuits (what if I put the speaker on instead of the fan). He's starting to ask questions about what a resistor is, and such -- thankfully, the books have clear explanations.
I give it a 4 for durability because the battery compartment cracked when it fell from the kitchen table onto a carpeted floor, then bounced onto a wood floor. It still works fine -- it was just the casing -- but kids will drop things, so I'd hoped the plastic would hold up a bit better than that.
My son was so excited to recieve this set as a gift for his 9th birthday!!He built some things out of the books and even created some of his own inventions!!
This product is so phenomenal I don't know where to start! We are a homeschooling family with 3 boys, ages 7, 8 and 10. This kit keeps them engaged and interested in learning for hours. Unlike other sets of toys, that end up in pieces all over the house, the boys take care of this set because they know if they don't they will lose it. The set is durable and the pieces fit nicely back in their respective slots after play. There is a nice range of experiments from easy to more challenging and the boys enjoy learning and working together on various projects. We bought this kit after having a smaller version many years earlier. I would recommend this set over any smaller ones, as you have so many more choices and pieces to work with. Although kind of "pricey" for a kids toy, your child will really get plenty of use from this set. We found it to be well worth every penny.
Snap Circuits PRO SC-500
Christmas present for my 10y.o. grandson. One month later he still plays with it every day after school. He has taught himself to read the instructions carefully so that the circuits he constructs will work. He also knows a great deal more now about components of electrical circuits and how electrical circuits work. This item is an excellent educational tool as well as an enjoyable "toy".
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About Snap Circuits PRO SC-500 detail
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1056 in Toys & Games
- Brand: Elenco
- Model: SC-500
- Released on: 2006-06-12
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 2.40" h x 15.40" w x 20.00" l, 4.90 pounds
Features
- AWARDS: The National Parenting Center-Seal of Approval, Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products, Dr Toy Best Educational Products
- Contains over 75 Snap-Together parts. Build over 500 exciting projects.
- Clear and concise Illustrated Manual Included and Available Online.
- Build 500 experiments.
Read more Snap Circuits PRO SC-500
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