Great Ideas for Black Friday and Cyber Monday Part 2 – STEM Toys

Christmas is coming up. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are even closer and the best deals are out there to be found. So what are your best bets for saving money AND getting the best toys? Shop STEM toys at EIO.com, we’ve got an amazing selection of learning toys and at reasonable prices. We have been carrying high quality STEM toys made by Elenco, Thames& Kosmos and more for a while and we’re confident that they’ll make great gift ideas for Christmas 2018.

One of our most popular STEM toys has been the Snap Circuits series by Elenco. You can get something as basic as the SC-100 with 101 different projects to make. It’s a great intro set for anyone not quite sure if Snap Circuits are the best fit for their child. If you’re already pretty sure, just skip right ahead to the SC-300 which showcases more than 300 experiments and is a little more for your money. Experiments include:  a lie detector, a laser light, flash lights and much more. If you are looking for something a little more interesting and eye popping, the SCL-175 Light Discovery Kit and the SC-3Di are not only great beginner sets with their attention grabbing lights, but they’re also a fun challenge for kids who may have mastered the SC-300. For something a little more unique the SCROV-10 R/C Rover will add an extra layer of fun to the electronic experiments. We’ve blogged about some of the fun things you can do with the rover, including using the upgrade kit to add a disc launcher to make the SCROV-50. They’ll be learning some cool things about circuits all while making a remote control car that shoots discs out. One last tip about Snap Circuits, you might want to invest in the Battery Eliminator which will save you money on batteries in the long game. These are a huge hit with kids of all ages, so be sure to check them out.

If you’re looking for STEM toys that are a little less centered around one idea and you want a bit of variety, Thames & Kosmos has literally any sort of STEM toy you can imagine, and quite a few you probably couldn’t. One of the most popular sets for gift ideas is Thames & Kosmos 555001 Air + Water Power which uses the power of water pressure and air pressure to power cars, planes, grinders and more. This set will foster the skills of building using Lego-like building pieces as well as bottles and pipes to make toys that would look right at home in a Steampunk world. If only there were steampunk Legos… Other sets projected to be hot are the 551007 Crystal Geode set which allows you to make your own geode in a plaster shell. This set teaches how minerals are formed in an interesting and engaging way. For the junior Sherlock Holmes or Batman, the 630912 Mast Detective Kit will have your child dusting for fingerprints, learning how to spy and collect evidence. It’s a fun way to learn about forensic science and how that’s used to catch “bad guys.” Who knows, maybe they’ll be able to help solve the mystery of who put the empty food container back on the shelf. For traditionalists, the 640125 C2000 and 640132 C3000 chemistry kits are an excellent (and probably safer) upgrade to the chemistry kits from childhoods past.

If your child has already mastered the science kits for their age level, perhaps they’re ready to learn the “dark arts.” The "620714 Science or Magic Kit?" will demonstrate how tricks of science can be applied to “magic” and illusion by flirting with the laws of physics and bending them to their will. Or maybe just through plain sleight of hand and conventional science…unless the answer to the question the kit poses is "yes." If showmanship and magic shows are up their alley anyways, the 698232 gold and 698386 onyx magic kits help your child learn between 150 and 200 magic tricks respectively. Great ideas for talent shows or kids who are enamored with Joel Hodgson or David Copperfield.

For kids who are a bit older and more directed in the science interests, you can help their journey of discovery with Elenco’s EDU 41009 microscope that would go great with some slides. The slides are great as they feature quite a few interesting things to look at under the microscope and may inspire them to look at other things under there too.

For the budding roboticist and programmer, the OWI-535 Robotic Arm Edge is quite the fun challenge. Requiring complete assembly to get its basic function as an R/C robot arm working, the arm is SO MUCH MORE customizable. With an Arduino, Raspberry Pi or Beaglebone Green, you can turn this bad boy into a rover with a robot arm and/or use it to learn and teach some basic programming. It’s a perfect gift for the teenager who is ready for their own science adventure.

Whatever deals you’re on the lookout for, EIO.com has plenty of toys that are heating up. There really is a STEM toy for every kid depending on their skills and interests. If you and your kids have tackled some of these, tell us all about it on Facebook or Instagram!