One of our favorite things to sell here at Adafruit are experimentation/beginners kits. We know that with every one of these kits that we sell, we are introducing someone to a new hobby or skill. Thankfully, Adafruit stocks a huge variety of experimentation kits for all age levels. Here are our favorites:
The Adafruit ARDX – v1.3 Experimentation Kit for Arduino. This is by far the best way to get your feet wet with Arduino. I use this exact kit when I teach an Arduino 101 class at The Mill in Minneapolis, MN.
We also offer a great starter pack for the Arduino. This pack includes everything you need to follow along with Ladyada’s fantastic Arduino tutorial. Once you have completed the online tutorials you will have some great gear to get you started on your first project. We also have a budget Arduino pack that will allow you to finish Ladyada’s tutorial as well.
If you are looking to get into robotics, or teach a robotics class, look no further than the Parallax BOEBot. This robot is built like a tank, and has a ton of functionality to get you or your students hooked on robotics. The best part of the whole system is Parallax’s amazing online guide for the BOEBot. Because of the built-in breadboard, once you have completed the tutorials, you can modify the bot to do what you want.
When you are in need of a microcontroller with a lot more processing power than the Arduino, the BeagleBone is a great place to start. We have a starter pack that will get your project up and running in no time.
mbed is another really powerful microcontroller that is also super easy to use thanks to the mbed online IDE. We have this neat mbed RFID/NFC starter kit that will not only introduce you to the mbed, but also teach you how to incorporate RFID/NFC into your projects.
If you want to teach someone of any age (and we mean any age) about electronics, be sure to check out littleBits. This neat kit has a bunch of electronics components that snap together with magnets to create custom circuits. There is no wrong way to hook up your littleBits, and they have a lot of great project examples online to give you some inspiration.
Adafruit for Educators! #backtoschool
Please visit our educator’s section to learn more about:
- Adafruit volume discounts and programs for educators, discounts galore!
- Adafruit electronic kits, products, Arduino & Raspberry Pi products for education, we have’em!
- Adafruit products and Arduino for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Used in schools!
- The Adafruit System, the best way to learn electronics!
- Adafruit iron-on “skill badges” / patches and partners, celebrate skills building!
- Resources for educators, our picks for educators!
- Adafruit for educators content on Adafruit.com, daily posts for educators!
- Circuit Playground – iPad/iPhone App For Educators, volume discounts via Apple’s edu program!
- Adafruit copyright permission for educators, educators can use them, hassle-free!