Clueless mom looking for guidance. Please.

[DanyelW]

I have extremely bright 11 and 8 year-old kids who love their Snap Circuits kit but have exhausted the projects and rarely stray from the instructions. I would like to get them started on something that encourages them to create using what they learn and to build real-life projects that utilize the open source ware. Both kids are interested in robotics and aerospace but I literally know nothing about electronics and don't know where to start. Any and all suggestions would hugely appreciated. Thank you.

[adafruit_support_bill]

One of the Arduino starter kits might be a good step up from the Snap Circuits. It is more open-ended and can be expanded with all kinds of sensors, displays motors etc. Most of our products have tutorials that show how to use them with the Arduino.
http://www.adafruit.com/category/17_64

The BoeBot is another Arduino-based open-ended kit: http://www.adafruit.com/products/749

[DanyelW]

Thank you so much. You are fantastic, and so FAST! I think my kids will be getting one of the starter kits for Valentine's Day

[mirwin66]

I would suggest you purchase LEGO Mindstorms EV3 for your kids. It naturally leads into TETRIX and FTC competitions. Get the educational version from www.legoeducation.us It is available for pre-order as it has not yet been released. It will be awesome. Many different models will be coming out with apps and it is open source with a LINUX system. Check it out on the website.

Marc Irwin
coach FTC #5887