9-year-old’s first solo soldering project and perfect #MothersDay gift!
My 9-year-old has helped me with electronics projects in the past, usually organizing the components and placing them onto the boards while I explained the function of each. He’s done some soldering when the components are in more easier to reach places, but most of the time, he would just feed in the solder while I controlled the iron. The more projects we did together, the more and more adamant he became in doing a project entirely on his own.
Knowing his abilities, I knew the MintyBoost Kit was a great, first solo soldering project for my him. I supervised him the whole time, but let him have control from start to finish.
What he put together was a nifty iPhone charger for me, which I carry in my bag all the time. I’ve used it on several occasions when I’m out and about and forgot to charge my phone before leaving our apartment. Every time my son sees me use it, he’ll grin and say, “I made that.”
Featured Adafruit Product!
MintyBoost Kit; The world’s first and only open-source hardware charger: The MintyBoost®!
New version! Works with the new iPhone 4 & 5 and more! Please review the Minty Boost project page(s) before purchase and assembly!, some phones require different modifications to the kit to charge properly! Some phones such as the *iPhone 3gs are very sensitive to charging via USB and may not work in all environments or configurations.
Make your own iPod/iPhone/GPS/etc… battery-pack and recharger!
This project includes all the electronic parts necessary to build your own MintyBoost: a small & simple (but very powerful) USB charger for your iPod (or other mp3 player), camera, cell phone, and any other gadget you can plug into a USB port to charge. (read more)
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