Elenco 130-in-1 Electronic Playground and Learning Center

This kit is a very good tool for learning a bit about electronic circuits and construction. The projects are simple enough and most of them will hold the interest of a pre-teen or young teenager. The kids can start out with something as simple as a car siren and electronic organ or continuity tester and as they develop more skill they can go into something more advanced like the AM radio or logic circuits.The construction of the kit is a little cheesy with a not-too-sturdy cardboard chassis, but it's adequate enough since the projects are not meant to be permanent. Component connections are made by slipping wires and leads into spring connectors and this works just fine.The instruction book leaves a little to be desired. It would be nice if they had more explanation and simple theory but as a "starter" to provoke a child's interest in electronics and electricity this is a very good deal.Also, do not think this is for boys only. Young girls will enjoy getting involved with this. Just ask some of them in my family!Because the description doesn't list the projects in this kit, here they are in no particular order:Electronic Woodpecker, Transistor-Transistor Logic Buffer Gate, Electronic Organ, Study Timer, The Chirping Bird, TTL Inverter Gate, Daylight Early Bird, Kitchen Timer, Electronic Cat, TTL AND Gate, Intermittent Alarm Generator, Three-Input AND Gate Using Operational Amplifier, Sonic Fish caller, TTL OR Gate, Comparator, Voice Level Meter, Machine Gun Pulse Oscillator, TTL Exclusive OR Gate, Basic Increase in DC Voltage, Power-On Reset Circuit, Electronic Motorcycle, TTL NOR Gate, Constant -Current Source, Delayed Timer, Two-Tone Patrol Car Siren, TTL Three-Input AND Gate, Integrating Circuit, Pulse Frequency Doubler, Electronic Siren, TTL AND Enable Circuit, Schmitt Trigger Circuit, White Noise Generator, Electronic Metronome, TTL OR Enable Circuit, Noninverting Two-Power Supply Amplifier, DC-DC Converter with Op- Amp, Electronic Grandfather Clock, TTL NAND Enable Circuit, Inverting Two-Power Supply Amplifier, Code Practice Oscillator with ToneControl, Light-Controlled Electronic Harp, TTL R-S Flip-Flop, No inverting Single-Power Supply Amplifier, Crystal Set Radio (Simple-Diode Radio), Horror Movie Sound Effects, NAND Gate Toggle Flip-Flop Circuit, Two-Power Supply Differential Amplifier, Two-Transistor Radio, Strobe Light, TTL Line Selector, Tone Mixing Amplifier , Wireless Code Transmitter, Rapid LED Display Switching, TTL Data Selector, Power Amplifier Using Operational Amplifier, Am Radio Station, Capacitor Discharge/High Voltage Generator, TTL Astable Multivibrator, Voltage Controlled Oscillator Circuit, Operational Amplifier Radio, Capacitors in Series and Parallel, TTL Tone Generator, Operational Amplifier Buzzer, Aural Continuity Tester, Resistors in Series and Parallel, Winking LEDs, Burglar Alarm, Conductivity Tester, Light Dimmer, A One-Shot TTL, Hand-Operated Sweep Oscillator, Transistor Checker, Transistor Switcher, Transistor Timer with TTL, Falling Bomb Sound, Sine wave Audio Oscillator, Transistor Circuit Action, Buzzin' LED, Emergency Siren, Low Distortion Sinewave Oscillator, Sound Amplifier, Son of Buzzin' LED, First Aid Siren, Twin-T Audio Oscillator, Flip-Flop Multivibrator with LED Display, Set/Reset Buzzer, Musical Tempo Generator , Pulse Oscillator Tone Generator, Seven-Segment LED, Digital Circuit, Set/Reset Buzzer, Operational Amplifier Winking LED , Audio Signal Tracer, Basic LED Display, Sound Machine, LED Flashing Light, Radio Frequency Signal Tracer, Transistor Control Switching of LED Display, Big Mouth, Two-LED Winker, Square Wave Audio Oscillator, Transistor, CDS Cell and LED Display Circuit, Shot in the Dark, One Shot Light, Sawtooth Wave Oscillator, Diode-Transistor Logic AND with LED Display, Variable R-C Oscillator, LED Initials, Rain Detector, DTL OR Circuit with LED Display, Oscillator with Turn-Off Delay, Wake Up Siren, Water Level Buzzer with Op-Amp, DTL NAND Circuit with LED Display, Temperature-Sensitive Audio Oscillator, Voice-Activated LED, Metal Detector, DTL Exclusive OR Circuit, Two-Transistor, Directly Connected Oscillator, Logic Tester, Water Level Alarm, Transistor NOR Circuit with LED Display, Push/Pull Square Wave Oscillator, Alternating Current Sound, Three-Step Water Level Indicator, Transistor Flip-Flop Circuit, Pencil Lead Organ, Light Control Sound Circuit, Transistor Toggle Flip-Flop, LED Strobe Light, Sound Alarm Circuit.Phew!

I think it is a great kit, possibly the best purchase I've ever made in this price range. I bought it for my nearly 6 years old son. He is too young to fully grasp the concepts and understand how electronics works, but he is learning to read the wiring digrams, he enjoys connecting the wires, and it loves playing with what he builds. We played with the Morse code (the table is included in the book) and learned how to send his name and "SOS" and many other words; we checked how electricity flows through water and how this changes when one adds salt; we built a radio; and we did many other educational and fun things.The kit appears small on the picture, and it is not large: There are 2 LEDs, an antenna, a tuning capacitor, 4 capacitors, 7 resistors, a variable resistor, 3 transistors, a diode, a transformer, a speaker, a switch, and terminals to connect a 9V battery.These components are sufficient to built 51 projects, starting from very simple ones (how bright an LED glows with different resistors connected between it and the battery?) to as complex as an alarm, blinking lights, and even transistor radio (which actually works!). Each project sheet contains a description, a schematic diagram, a wiring diagram (a sketch of layout of all wires) and a wiring checklist (list of which terminals should be connected with which). From time to time, new concepts are explained on saprate pages. Water flow analogy is extensively used to explan parallel and serial connection of resistors and capacitors. There is even a section on logic (OR and AND circuits.No soldering is required: all wires are easily connected to spring terminals. You bend a spring, slide a wire between the spring coils, and let the spring go - done! I think it is a great idea which makes assembly very easy. Each part is labelled on the cardboard, and each terminal (spring) has a number, which is also indicated on the schematics and on wiring digrams.The 71-page booklet makes a fair effort to explain the concepts behind each circuit. It is a solid booklet, and the explanations are OK for someone familiar with electronics. I do not think the level of explanations is great for a school student who does not know a thing about transistors - and it is not even written as a kids book or as a school textbook - but with the help of an adult, the booklet can be a significant learning resource.The built quality is - how should I put it - cost efficient and not meant to be abused. There is more paper than plastic. All components are attached to a medium-thick cardboard. This is not a toy to be stepped on or dropped on the floor. It should be treated the same way as expensive chess or checkers - you take it out of the box, put on a table in front of your kid, and work on a project with him. Then you disconnect the wires and put it back in the box. With this attitude, it will last. I am not complaining about the built quality as long it enables me to get this set at a good price.The only item that is not provided in the box is a 9 volts battery.I think it is a great educational toy. I played a lot with electronics when I was at school, and I can only wish that at that time I had something as nice as this kit!

I'm giving this four stars, because I'm still glad that I bought it, but if I could give half stars it's probably more on the 3.5 end. The bad: it's very flimsy. Definitely a toy you give a gentle child and not a rough one. Luckily, my 7 year old son who it was for is my least rambunctious child. The flap that holds the battery has already worn to the breaking point just from regular use (it's been less than a week) but it's not really important as the battery clip doesn't require it. It's actually a pretty pointless bit of cardboard. The jumper wires are not solid core, so you sometimes have to twist them back together when they start to unravel. That's a little irritating for me, but I don't think my son cares or has really noticed.The good: the manual is amazing. We've done snap circuits and read many books on electricity, but this manual explains things so well that a lot of things that I didn't think I would ever really grasp now make sense. The circuits work and the whole thing is visually appealing. I was going to get the 150 but decided on this one instead. There is plenty to keep us occupied for a long time in just this set. If we ever need more though, I will likely seek out a vintage 150 project lab instead of a new one from elenco because the quality of the old ones seems more lasting.All of this said, I'm still happy we bought it. It's could be much improved quality wise. With elencos positive reputation with Snap Circuits, I would have liked to see something sturdier in this kit, but it's still a fascinating toy that my son is having fun with.