There are plenty of cool gift ideas if you want to buy someone something to help them get started in learning electronics. The Elenco Electronic Playground is similar to the first learn electronics kit I had.
The Elenco Electronic Playground and Learning Center is the more expensive next one up, with more components and more projects.
Both of these items offer a quick and easy way start learning the basics of electronics and an introduction to the hobby.
Snap circuits are also manufactured by Elenco and offer an introductory route into learning electronics for beginners. They are also excellent gifts as they are available at a range of prices, are ideal for boys or girls and cover a huge age range (the box indicates 8 to 108 so I think that says it all.)
The Snap Circuits Jr. PLUS SC-110 Electronics Exploration Kit | Over 110 STEM Projects | Full Color Project Manual | 30+ Snap Circuits Parts | STEM Educational Toy for Kids 8+ is one of the basic kits and gets the full five stars on Amazon.
The Snap Circuits Arcade Electronics Discovery Kit is more expensive but offers over 200 projects, so that should keep you busy for a while.
The Snap Circuits Green Alternative Energy Kit is ideal if you want to introduce a child or adult for that matter into the world of green energy.
This kit covers solar, wind, tidal and hydro electricity and geothermal and hydrogen fuel cells are explained.
If you’ve got more money to spend, the Snap Circuits Extreme PLUS SC-760 Electronics Exploration Kit | Over 760 STEM Projects | Full Color Project Manual | 80+ Snap Circuits Parts | STEM Educational Toys for Kids 8+ is the one to go for with over 80 component parts and 760 experiments from an am radio to a lie detector.
A really impressive thing about the Snap Circuits range is that you can go to the manufacturers website Elenco and download all the documentation. That includes the full manuals and the full construction documents. If you do this it will give you a complete look at exactly how it gets put together and exactly what its capable of.
There are very impressive and easy to follow and in full colour. I would have to give these ten out of ten and I honestly can’t think of any way they could be improved.