Amazing Maker Gifts for Your Curious Teen
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Gift posts are just for the holidays.
Birthdays happen year round.
And any time is a great time for a gift from the heart.
These gifts are excellent choices
for homeschooling high school teens too.
This snazzy list is made up of Amazing Maker Gifts for Your Curious Teen.
Because you if you know anything about a maker, you know that
makers have to make.
And they need all the things
for their big ideas.
Behold, the tools for making big ideas come to life.
Big STEM Items for Your Curious Maker
Tetrix Building System
Tetrix is a robotics building set from Pitsco Education.
They have two different mechanical building systems along with the software to interface with the hardware. It’s an open ended system that allows your student to flex his or her engineering muscles.
Along with the base kit, we recommend the following:
- Torquenado motors– which have encoders
- rack and pinion gears– for linear movement
- Omni wheels– two come with the set. Two more and your robot can turn on itself
- remote control– if your robot is not autonomous
LEGO Mindstorms EV3
Mindstorms kits are a nice step into robotics and the bonus is that many families already have extra technic pieces around to build on to the system.
After you purchase the base kit, consider these extra options:
- Gyro Sensor– one of the best sensors! Keeps your robot running true- especially when it counts.
- Color Sensor–
- Extra motor– the EV3 supports four motors and comes with three
- Extra Technic pieces– to build sturdy robots
Many families are hesitant to invest financially in big STEM items, but it could be one of the best investments you make in your homeschool. Find out why!
Microcomputers for Your Curious Teen
Arduino
Arduino boards are a microcontroller for a maker’s projects.
- Arduino Ultimate Starter Kit–
- Getting Started with Arduino– directions and projects
- Passive Infrared Sensors– usually come with a kit, but you’ll want these
- Infrared Transmitter–
- Infrared Receiver–
- Piezo Buzzer– to make noise
Raspberry Pi
Our youngest does amazing things with his three Raspberry Pis. Want to know more about how to learn with Raspberry Pi? Try learn.adafruit for ideas!
- Raspberry Pi Kit– comes with everything you need to get started
- Pi camera– for fun projects
- Touch screen– allows you to interface with your Pi on projects
- Battery pack– for using your Pi on the go
- PiGirrl– a fun kit to make a Gameboy emulator with your Pi
Accessories & Supplies for Your Maker
If your maker is going to get projects done, then they will need some supplies.
This is our summary list.
- Helping hands– to hold thing to free up your hands for soldering
- Soldering Iron– get a good one for quality and ease of work
- Perf board– for soldering all those components into one unit of awesome
- Soldering Supplies– flux, wire, etc
- Metric Tape Measure– because metric!
- Multimeter– that can do all the things like measure current, resistance, capacitance, and continuity
More Gift Lists for Your Makers
- 10 (or so) Best Tinkering Gifts for your Inventor– a younger version of a similar list including books, kits, and building sets. Oh my goodness the cuteness in that tinkerer’s face!
- Perfect Gifts for a Cartographer– One of the things my teens love to make is a map. This is a compilation of our favorite map making tools.
- Gifts for Kids Who Love to Sew– Both our boys and our girl love to sew and, of course, our daughter is now an apparel design student so we are partial to sewing tools of all sorts!
- Inspiring Tools for a Nature Artist– The big list of our favorite nature art supplies
- Tools for the Watercolor Artist– Do you have an art maker in your midst? Try this set of supplies!
Go big and get your maker the supplies of her dreams!
No regrets.
Because you never know when give your student time and materials will mean all the difference.
Other bloggers at the iHN are sharing gift lists for this holiday season. Browse some great ideas!