For those of you in need of gift inspiration for the people in your life who are interested in electronics, and maybe in need of guidance, look no further. Below, you will find a sampling of kits that Adafruit offers which will please the beginner tinkerer, maker, or hacker. Don’t forget to direct your gift receiver to our Adafruit Learning System which can provide instruction while offering opportunities to take their project to the next level!

Or who knows, maybe just treat yourself…

littleBits Base Kit: Make circuits in seconds with the littleBits Base Kit – no soldering, programming or wiring required. This collection includes 10 of littleBits’ color-coded Bits modules that snap together with magnets to create larger circuits. Control a car through light with the dc motor and light sensor, or scare your friends with a hidden button and a buzzer. With over 150,000 circuit combinations, curious minds are guaranteed to be engaged for hours.

The Base Kit includes everything you need to start designing and prototyping your own interactive creations, including a 9V battery an attractive, re-usable case and the motorMate which makes it super simple to attach wheels, cardboard and other materials to the DC motor. There’s also a handy Project Booklet, with step-by-step instructions for 8 great projects like the Art Bot and Three Wheeler.

Ladyada’s Electronics Toolkit: Starting out on your electronics adventure?
Want to wield the mighty soldering iron?
Tired of saying “I’d totally get into electronics if I only knew what tools to get…”?

Working with substandard equipment is a terrible way to learn electronics: a lot of frustration with too little success. The right tool set will keep you progressing without the stressing.

This toolbox contains carefully selected hand tools that will last you for many many years.

Adafruit ARDX – v1.3 Experimentation Kit for Arduino (Uno R3) – v1.3: Interested in making neat stuff with an Arduino but not sure where to start? This kit includes all the pieces needed to complete 11 different circuits, along with a experimenter’s guide booklet & breadboard layout sheets. Basically everything you need to be playing within minutes of its arrival. No soldering required!

If the ARDX doesn’t suit you, feel free to check out our Starter Pack for Arduino (Includes Arduino Uno R3), Raspberry Pi Model B Starter Pack – Includes a Raspberry Pi, or Raspberry Pi Model B+ Starter Pack – Includes a Raspberry Pi B+. Already have a Raspberry Pi and not sure where to start? Take a look at these Raspberry Pi-less versions: B and B+.

Raspberry Pi Model B+ Starter Pack – Includes a Raspberry Pi B+: You’re going to work hard with your Raspberry Pi B+. You’re going to have to solder, code, and Linux your Maker heart out. That’s why we’ve tried to make it as easy as possible to start – by combining the Raspberry Pi B+ with what we think are the best beginners’ Pi B+ accessories into one easy to use kit.

We’ve hand chosen these accessories as the perfect accompaniment to your new Raspberry Pi Model B+. It’s everything you need to get going with a high quality power supply, Raspbian SD card, case, WiFi adapter, console cable, and lots of prototyping essentials. It’s a great jumping off point for the rest of our extensive accessory and pack collection.

MintyBoost Kit – v3.0: The world’s first and only open-source hardware charger: The MintyBoost®!

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.

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.

TV-B-Gone Kit – Universal v1.2: When we were putting together the TV-B-Gone kit, we started imagining a dystopian future, filled with televisions, where this kit would be super useful and we’d be a hero for having one. And while maybe that’s dramatic, the TV-B-Gone is perfect for playing pranks on your friends during the Super Bowl or getting some peace and quiet during dinner.

The TV-B-Gone is a kit that, when soldered together, allows you to turn off almost any television within 150 feet or more. It works on over 230 total power codes – 115 American/Asian and another 115 European codes. You can select which zone you want during kit assembly.

MaKey MaKey by Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum – Made by JoyLabz: MaKey MaKey is an invention kit for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It’s a simple Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts doing art, engineering, and everything in between. MaKey MaKey was invented by Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum & Made by JoyLabz. Find out more details at makeymakey.com or watch the video at makeymakey.com.

Conway’s Game of Life Kit – v1.3: In 1970, John Conway came up with a 1-player game called Game of Life. The Game of Life is a mathematical game that simulates ‘colonies’ that grow or die based on how crowded or lonely they are and is known for the way it creates a beautiful organic display out of randomness.

Here is a design for a simple electronic project that plays Conway’s Game of Life. Make one kit and keep it on your desk, or attach multiple kit modules together to create a large display.

Originally created by Dropout Design, this revision adds a few extra features. The kit is very easy to make and an excellent first electronics/soldering project. It is perfect for workshops since at the end everyone can connect their completed module together.

Kits for Making Wearables

EL wire starter pack – 2.5 meter (8.2 ft): A little bundle to get you started!

Adafruit Beginner LED Sewing Kit: This kit comes with enough supplies to make two projects with two LEDs each, or one project with four LEDs. Great for embroidery and needlework, light-up jewelry and hair accessories, shoes, plush toys, and more. This is a great beginner kit for kids (no soldering!) and adults alike who are looking to get into soft circuits and wearable electronics.

FLORA Budget Pack: Get started with the fabulous Adafruit Flora platform with this lovely budget kit, just enough to get you started with this fun wearable computer. Included are enough parts to make your first wearable electronic project. There’s a Flora motherboard, four ultra-bright chainable RGB pixels, a 3xAAA battery holder and batteries, a battery extension cable, our high quality stainless steel thread, alligator clips to help you test out your parts and connections and a USB cable for reprogramming the Flora. Over $50 worth of goodies, for under $40.

FLORA GPS Starter Pack: Get started with the fabulous Adafruit Flora platform with this lovely starter kit. Included are plenty of parts to make a few different fun projects! There’s a Flora motherboard, a GPS module that can also perform location datalogging, eight ultra-bright chainable RGB pixels, a battery holder and batteries, two types of our high quality stainless steel thread, alligator clips to help you test out your parts, a USB cable for reprogramming the Flora, and some parts to make a wearable remote control (or TV-B-Gone!): NPN transistors, long range IR LEDs, and matching resistors. Over $120 worth of goodies, for under $100.

FLORA Sensor Pack: Sense the world around you! The FLORA Sensor Pack includes many types of sensors for your wearable enjoyment. Sense motion, direction, color, light levels, touch, and connections with FLORA sensor breakouts and conductive materials, and a few NeoPixels for experimenting with displaying your sensor information. Take your project portable with the included battery pack and stitch it into a final design with conductive thread. $100 worth of goodies for under $70. There’s no limit to the projects you can make with the included parts.

Adafruit Holiday Shipping Deadlines 2014

Here are your 2014 shipping deadlines for ordering from Adafruit. Please review our shipping section if you have specific questions on how and where we ship worldwide for this holiday season.

The Adafruit Shipping Department works hard to get your orders out as quickly as we can, but once they’re in the hands of our carriers they’re out of our control.

Carriers have been struggling to keep up with the sharp rise in online orders. Last year UPS, FedEX, and USPS all experienced delivery delays (http://tinyurl.com/ku5f4a6).

So all the Adafruit Shippers say: Please be sure you get your gifts early! Order as soon as you can! Once you place your order we’ll ship like the wind!

UPS ground (USA orders): Place orders by Friday 11am ET – December 12, 2014 – There is no guarantee that UPS Ground packages will arrive in time for Christmas.

UPS 3-day (USA orders): Place orders by Wednesday 11am ET – December 17, 2014 – Arrive by 12/24/2014.

UPS 2-day (USA orders): Place orders by Thursday 11am ET – December 18, 2014 – Arrive by 12/24/2014.

UPS overnight (USA orders): Place orders by Friday 11am ET – December 19, 2014 – Arrive by 12/24/2014.

Please note: We do not offer Saturday or Sunday service for UPS or USPS.

Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014, Christmas, no UPS pickup or delivery service.
Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015, New Year’s Day, no UPS pickup or delivery service.

United States Postal Service, First Class and Priority (USA orders): Place orders by Friday– December 12, 2014 – Arrive by 12/24/2014 or sooner.

USPS First class mail international (International orders): Place orders by Friday – November 21, 2014. Can take up to 30 days ore more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/24/2014 or sooner, but not a trackable service and cannot be guaranteed to arrive by 12/24/14.

USPS Express mail international(International orders): Place orders by Friday – December 5, 2015. Can take up to 15 days or more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/24/2014 or sooner.

Gift Certificates are always available at any time.

When in doubt contact us!