The Crafty Kid’s Guide to DIY Electronics

April 15, 2019

Helen sent me a copy of her latest book to review. We’ve not had a chance to try out any of the projects yet but here’s my initial thoughts.

So there’s a couple of reasons we’ve not yet got around to any projects. There’s a lot of choice of projects and most of the projects have specialist components, although I think we should have enough for a googly eyed trash monster.

The beginning of the book describes the tools and materials you will require. You’ll also need resilience, creativity and practical skills, although Helen reminds us that practice is how you develop these three things and that things will undoubtedly go wrong so troubleshooting and fixing is part of the fun.

The book breaks into 4 sections each with a number of projects; paper circuits, soft circuits, wearables and robotics. Each section starts with an introduction to the topic and finishes with a maker spotlight on a top maker in that area. Each project has a parts list, clear instructions, how to fix when things go wrong and some inspiration for extending or adapting the project. There are also some handy templates referenced that you can find in the back of the book.

There’s a great variety of projects and the techniques and principles are explained well. I get the feeling the book is aimed at slightly older kids as it is quite wordy. However, there’s nothing my 8 year old would not be able to cope with. As mentioned, we’re a bit short on some of the materials but watch this space for trash monsters….

By Andy from Workshopshed One Comment

  Posted in: Books and Magazine Reviews