STEM Holiday Gift Guide For Kids And Adolescents

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Don’t look now, but we’re in the midst of the holiday shopping season. While redOrbit’s resident tech guru, Mark Lee Rollins already has you covered with our Science and Tech Nerd Holiday Gift Guides, what do you get for the STEM-minded kids and adolescents in your life? Here are a few suggestions designed to make the young geeks in your life truly light up on Christmas morning.
Please note: We only include list prices, as the selling prices change almost daily.
Smarty Blocks
Kicking things off is Smarty Blocks by Fat Brain Toys (MSRP $28.95), an educational game that challenges two to four players to complete a series of challenges in one minute. There are two different levels of play (one for readers and one for non-readers), and the some of the tasks involved will require sequencing, mathematical ability and logic. The game is fast-paced and visually appealing to younger children, while still managing to be challenging to older grade-schoolers.

Gravity Maze
Likewise, Gravity Maze by Think Fun (MSRP $29.99) is a falling marble game with a twist. The player needs to figure out a way to use gravitational forces and a series of plastic ramps, curves and features to build a structure which enables a the marble to reach the target cube. There are 60 challenges varying in difficulty from beginner to expert, and along the way youngsters can build spatial reasoning and engineering-style planning skills while also learning more about how gravity works.

Boogie Board
If board games aren’t your kids’ thing, perhaps the Boogie Board (MSRP $29.99) will be up their alley. The Boogie Board is a battery-powered 8.5-inch LCD eWriter with a durable, shatterproof plastic LCD screen, a pressure-sensitive writing surface and a stylus. It is designed to be a more environmentally-friendly way for kids ages 8 and up to write stories or draw sketches. The lightweight device can also easily fit into backpacks for use in math and science classes.

Roominate For Girls
Roominate is a wired dollhouse building kit designed specifically to expose girls ages 6 to 12 to STEM concepts at an early age. The product line includes basic (MSRP $29.99) and deluxe (MSRP $49.99) versions, as well as several other sets. Roominate was designed by female engineers at Caltech, MIT and Stanford in order to help young girls learn engineering-related concepts by building, running circuits and having fun.

Elenco Snap Circuits Physics Kit
The Elenco Snap Circuits SC-300 Physics Kit (MSRP $66.99) allows kids at least eight years of age to learn about electronics in an easy and fun way. The product, which was named one of the Dr. Toy 100 Best Children’s Products list, contains 60 snap together parts which can be used to build over 300 different projects, including an AM radio, a doorbell and a burglar alarm. No tools are required, and the kit will allow kids to learn the inner workings of circuit boards while playing.

Math Games With A Fun Twist
For parents looking to find a fun way to help their youngsters hone their math skills, the School Zone Publishing Company offers Math War Addition and Subtraction Game Cards (MSRP $2.99), a variation of the popular War card game in which a simple math problem must be completed in order to determine which player won the duel. Likewise, Think Fun’s Math Dice game (MSRP $9.99) is a game-based alternative to flash cards and offers a fun way to drill math problems with children 8 and up.

Geosafari Talking Microscope
Aspiring scientists between the ages of 5 and 7 will likely get a real kick out of the Educational Insights Geosafari Talking Microscope (MSRP $39.99), a durable first microscope that includes 12 pre-prepared slides depicting common insects. The microscope magnifies up to 5x, allows children to listen to fun facts about what they are looking at, and asks them questions about what they’ve learned in a fun quiz game. Older kids, however, will probably prefer an actual science-grade microscope, such as the My First Lab Duo-Scope Microscope (MSRP $79.99), which magnifies up to 100x.

Search The Heavens
Telescopes range in quality and price, but for a good all-around, affordable family product, check out the Celestron 21061 AstroMaster 70AZ Refractor Telescope (MSRP $149.99). The manufacturer promises quick and easy set-up. The telescope features all coated glass optics for improved viewing, and it also comes with an accessories tray and planetarium software with a database of 10,000 objects to teach kids and teens about the universe they’re studying.

Space Camp – Sale Ends Monday December 1st
Of course, sometimes the best gifts are the experiences and memories that will last a lifetime, and if your sons or daughters are astronomy enthusiasts between the ages of 9 and 18, you could give them a truly “out of this world” gift by sending them to Space Camp. From now through Monday, you can save $200 off week long overnight Space Camp, Aviation Challenge Camp and Space Camp Robotics programs taking place between May 24 and August 28 of next year. Use discount code BF14C.

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