Kit Complexity: 1
(1=Easy, 5=Difficult) Is the kit easy, moderate, or challenging to build for its most likely target audience? Kits clearly aimed at children would, for example, be rated differently from microcontroller kits.
Astra 1
Hobby rocketry leader Estes Industries makes more than a dozen inexpensive launch sets (launch pad/rod, launch controller) for beginners, but their included rockets are either pre-built or not much of a challenge. For a good first build, I’d instead suggest the Quest Astra 1. Its balsa fins are mounted “through the wall,” making it easy […]
Eskimold Igloo Building Kit
Make Kit Reviews
Tundra North Manufacturing
Eskimold Igloo Building Kit
$24
Reviewed: November 3rd, 2011
Make Kit Reviews
Tundra North Manufacturing
Eskimold Igloo Building Kit
$24
Reviewed: November 3rd, 2011
This is loads of fun — a way to get the kids out of the house during the winter, or make a cheap little ice fishing house that’s disposable. Any type of snow can be compacted into this nifty device to quickly create hundreds of perfectly formed, slanted, stackable igloo building blocks. The Eskimold differs […]
LED Art Kit
This easy-to-assemble, no-solder kit lets you create your own unique LED light show. The only tool needed is a pair of pliers for crimping the wire connectors. The RGB (red-green-blue) LEDs create a slow, ever-changing, multicolored glow that’s perfect for setting the mood of any room. Makes a great nightlight, too!
LEDs: art, electronics, LEDs
Solar Grasshopper Kit
Build your own life-size grasshopper and explore solar power with this educational mini solar robot kit. The snap-together, attention-getting Solar Frightened Grasshopper teaches how solar energy can be used to generate electricity. This easy-to-use science kit is perfect for first-time experimenters with little or no experience. Ages 10 and up.
Wind Up Workshop Robots
Who would have thought a company that makes pencils and pens could come up with such a cool robotics kit for all ages! Inside the box are five windup mechanisms, plus various arts and crafts goodies to make a veritable army of whirring and walking mechanical denizens. You get some pre-cut stiff paper to construct […]
QuadBot
Eight mini servo motors and an assortment of acrylic pieces combine to create the QuadBot, a low-cost, four-legged robotic pet you can assemble in under an hour. The kit doesn’t come with brains or batteries; add those yourself. Each leg uses two servos, making this a 2DOF (two degrees of freedom) walkerbot. Exercising a bit […]
