My experience with LittleBits

After reading quite a few good things about the tech (and following some recommendations from Twitter), I purchased a LittleBits Starter Kit directly from the LittleBits web site. The item was delivered via UPS very quickly (about 3 days). Besides the shipping costs, I also had to pay some import tax when the item was delivered to my home in Johannesburg.

I bought the kit for my son who is 5 years old in order to teach him the basics of electronics. The box recommends a minimum age of 8, but we had a go anyway. The kit is extremely easy to use, and the concepts of components that you snap together using magnets is pure brillance.

My son had fun playing with the components one by one (the buzzer in particular made him giggle a lot, the light controlled buzzer even more). The box comes with a booklet which allows you to make electronics-powered craft. Within the 1st day, we had built together a torch with a switch. Later on, this was improved and turned into a torch which can light itself up at night with a buzzer which indicates how dark it is. My 3 year old also had a go and was able to snap together components (it seemed a bit random, but the end result worked). Again, they were quite keen on the buzzer. 

The motor component has an attachement that is LEGO compatible so you can also make simple moving LEGO activated by light or by a switch (so we can reuse the ton of blocks we have). 

LittleBits is one of the things I wish I had as a kid, and could be very useful in classrooms to teach kids the basic of electronics. It is very easy to use.

The box is a bit pricey but given the sheer amount of stuff you can build with it, I think it is well worth it.

Here is a little component which reports how dark a room is. It is made of a power component, a light sensor and an LED array. Super easy and quick to put together.