Elenco 130-in-1 Electronic Playground and Learning Center

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!

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 purchased this for my 8 yo son who had an interest in learning more about electronics. My elder 11 yo daughter was not interested in sharing her snap circuits set (she has the SC-500). We were not interested in making a large initial investment. While I really like the snap circuits and the easy directions and ease of assembling different projects / experiements; but I prefer the electronic playground for the instructional manual. The manual does a very good job of explaining what is going on, for examples, how do resisters work, what are their puposes. It questions the student to come up with real life uses of a resister such as in a light dimmer. The playground is made of relatively inexpensive cardboard (really wish that they would have used something that felt more sturdy). However, it was very easy for my son to wire between the different pieces. He did not have any problem following the provided instructions. With the additional background that was provided, he was able to take the intended lesson and further explore on his own .... and understand what he was doing. With the Snap Circuits Pro, I did not feel like my daughter was given enough information to freely and easily experiment. Interesting that they seem to be made by the same manufacturer. My daughter has had her set for 3 years so maybe things have changed. This was a very inexpensive way to provide a great introduction to electronics. My middle child was following along with my son and agreeing with all of the written explanations she learned at school for why the experirments worked. As an intro kit, there is certainly quite a lot that they teach the kid thru the many "experiements" and it is a good guide to test a child's interest in electronics before committing to a much more expensive set.

The Elenco 130-1 is marketed for young people, but is not a toy. It is more advanced than most products of this kind and is suitable for all ages who want to learn more about electronics. Considering the number of components included, it is worth the reasonable cost.

A wonderful little kit and a must have for child that is interested in electronics.

First things first..... I ordered this item through Amazon and not one of their 3rd party sellers. I received what was clearly a used and defective item. The silica pack was busted open and I could tell an attempt was made to tape it back together. There were silica pellets in every nook and cranny of the box, the unit, and even inside the unit. The original circle tape seals on the box were cut and the box was re-taped with packaging tape. The top of the unit is made of cardboard (more about that in a minute) and it looked like a cat used it for a chew toy. It was covered in scratches and small holes. I tested it anyway and while it did work, the speaker volume seemed low to me (hardly audible). The volume was not adjustable on the project I did. This was bought as a gift for my son's birthday and this is the second time I have purchased a gift from Amazon that was clearly a used item. I am returning it to Amazon and happened to find one (brand new and sealed) at a store on clearance for $19.99! The speaker on this one with the same project was much louder. Okay, so on with the review of the item. I had one of these as a kid and it was probably the coolest thing my parents ever bought me. I loved it! The one I had was made of much better materials than this one. When I was talking to my 9 year old son about it, he said he wanted one for his birthday. My son loves using it. The manual is informative, easy to follow, and gives some basic information about the components. The projects are fun and easy to do. Now for the negative.....The build quality! Ok, I can understand something being cheaply made, but come on? This is probably the poorest build quality I have seen on any product. The sides are made of thin plastic and the top is made of cardboard. The worst is the bottom of the unit. Extremely paper thin piece of cardboard held on (sort of) with scotch tape! My son will be using this until it falls apart which probably won't be too long, at which point I will buy a better quality one.

I purchased this as a Christmas gift for my 7 year old. The Snap Circuits set is still in its box as of January 4th, but we've blown through half of the projects on this kit. This one seems more grown up and less like a toy. It may be the same one, or is very similar to the kit I used to purchase for all of my siblings and cousins when they turned 8 or so. These never fail to be the "favorite present s/he received this year". I will definitely continue purchasing these for the kids in my life. It makes kids feel like they are capable of accomplishing something real and they get to work with REAL (adult) electronic components without the risk of losing them all over the house. Most of the kids I have given these kits to go on to do other electronic projects and mine is already hoping for a more advanced playground. That being said, the wires are a bit flimsy. They are coated in a nice thick plastic that does afford them some stability and they are fine if your kid is going to rush through the kit as mine has. But the metal wire part bends easily and is a bit difficult to stick into the springs. If your child will be using this for a long time or has questionable fine motor skills/little patience, I suggest investing in a spool of thin copper wire that you can cut to length yourself and strip the ends. You can buy wire snippers/strippers at the dollar store if you don't own a pair and while you are there pick up a little tackle box or even a Tupperware style container to hold all the wires. They come in a cheap ziplock style bag. Some people have complained that the playground is made of cardboard: this teaches kids to be careful with their electronics and also enables them to take apart the playground if they want to see exactly how it functions. In fact: My only complaint is that there is no way to see how the components are connected to the springs without deconstructing the playground. The book is sufficient for a VERY basic introduction to the way circuits and electric currents operate, but your kid will need and want more info. There are some fun books out there kids might enjoy if they aren't into dry manuals including, but not limited to: The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip, and Charged Up: The Story of Electricity by Jacqui Bailey. YouTube also has some "cool" videos and some not so "cool" ones that can teach kids a bit of the basic physics etc. Watch with your kids though, YouTube is a scary place.

I love this kit! I bought it for my 7 year old Grandson and I to do together. We haven't been through all the experiments yet, but we went through several and loved them! Included in the box: The Electronic Playground 71 page instruction manual A pack of wires of various lengths. If you do the projects from front to back it has you learning what each thing does, one at a time. Including: Switches Resistors Transformers Capacitors Semi-Conductors For each experiment the book tells you where to place the wires (by number) and gives you a diagram for the first placement. Then you get to see what it did. After that, the book has you move some wires and see what happens next. At the end of each experiment it talks about the item you were using and how it works. My 7 year old grandson wasn't into the "why and how", but I've never learned those things and found it fascinating! At the end of each set it has a quiz to see what you learned. We didn't do those since he's not interested in the why yet. At the end of our time together I gave my grandson the choice to keep the kit at my house so we could finish working with it together later, or take it home right then so he could keep experimenting with it now. He chose to take it home, which means it was definitely a hit with him! Cons: * The playground board is just a shaped cardboard box with plastic ends. I assume it will fall apart or get stepped on and break at some point * It does require a 9v battery that isn't included. * The manual is written for someone older * They have a diagram for the first part of the experiment, but when they have you change wires around to see what happens if it's wired differently, They don't have diagrams of that part. Pros: * The connections were easy to make. My grandson was doing all the wiring by himself. * They have a good diagram for the first part of each experiment. So, you don't need to search for the numbers they use unless you want to. Also, with the diagram my grandson can do it himself. Once the kids learn what each thing does, they can keep experimenting with it on their own.