Bring technology home for the holidays and give your loved ones the gift of DIY Electronics. Below, you will find a sampling of kits that Adafruit offers which will please tinkerers, makers, or hackers of any age. 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!
Ladyada’s Electronics Toolkit
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. Read more
Thames & Kosmos Electronics Experiment Kit
Thames & Kosmos Electronics Experiment Kit:
This lovely little kit from Thames & Kosmos is a nice alternative to ‘snap-circuits’ type learning kits. There’s still no soldering, but there are proper wires and a bread-board-like workspace so the projects are a bit more realistic. This is a basic starter kit, a good companion to learning with an Arduino since it covers more of the essential analog/digital type basics which sometimes get skipped over when using microcontrollers. It’s also great on its own! Read more
MaKey MaKey by Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum
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.
TV-B-Gone Kit
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.There’s also lots more info on the TV-B-Gone website. Read more!
MintyBoost Kit – v3.0
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.
Please review the Minty Boost project page(s) before purchase and assembly! Read more
Conway’s Game of Life Kit – v1.3
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. Read more
Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ Starter Pack – Includes a Raspberry Pi 1
Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ Starter Pack. 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.
This pack comes with a single Raspberry Pi Model B+ Computer! Read more
Electronics for Wearables
FLORA GPS Starter Pack
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.
Adafruit Beginner LED Sewing Kit
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.
EL wire starter pack – 2.5 meter (8.2 ft)
EL wire starter pack – 2.5 meter (8.2 ft): A little bundle to get you started! We used this to make our awesome TRON bag
https://www.adafruit.com/category/65
We’re excited for the Holiday Season here at Adafruit, and we can’t wait to share that excitement with you! Stay tuned into the blog where you will find new, handpicked gift guides five days a week from November 9th through December 24th, 2015 alongside holiday themed tutorials and builds!
Free Deals
Adafruit offers exciting deals and free items when you shop with us. As of October 13th, 2015 we are currently offering:
- Adafruit Perma-Proto Half-sized Breadboard PCB – Single for order $99 or more
- Adafruit Trinket – Mini Microcontroller – 5V Logic for orders $149 or more
- Adafruit Pro Trinket – 5V 16MHz for order $249 or more
Adafruit Holiday Deadlines 2015
Here are your 2015 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. UPS, FedEX, and USPS all experienced delivery delays over the last few years.
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 11, 2015 – There is no guarantee that UPS Ground packages will arrive by December 24.
UPS 3-day (USA orders): Place orders by Thursday 11am ET – December 17, 2015 – Arrive by 12/24/2015.
UPS 2-day (USA orders): Place orders by Friday 11am ET – December 18, 2015 – Arrive by 12/24/2015.
UPS overnight (USA orders): Place orders by Monday 11am ET – December 21, 2015 – Arrive by 12/24/2015.
Please note: We do not offer Saturday or Sunday service for UPS or USPS.
Friday, Dec. 25, 2015, Christmas, no UPS pickup or delivery service.
Friday, Jan. 1, 2016, 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 11, 2014 – Arrive by 12/24/2015 or sooner.
USPS First class mail international (International orders)): Place orders by Friday – November 20, 2015. Can take up to 30 days or more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/25/2015 or sooner, but not a trackable service and cannot be guaranteed to arrive by 12/24/2015.
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!