March 21, 2026
Soldering irons & flame wars
Electronics for Kids, 2nd Edition
Electronics for Kids sparks a free-vs-paid brawl and a hunt for parts
TLDR: A fully revamped “Electronics for Kids” (ages 10+) lands with 21 real projects, while commenters spar over paying vs free learning, ask for a parts kit, and reminisce about vintage Kosmos sets. It matters because families want hands-on STEM, but they’re picky about cost, clarity, and what’s included.
The shiny new 2nd edition of Electronics for Kids dropped with 21 hands-on projects (hello intruder alarm and DIY electromagnet), and the comments instantly turned into wallet vs breadboard. One camp cheered the full‑color refresh and the Wall Street Journal’s “not just for kids” praise, while another fired off a link to the free, famously thorough All About Circuits textbook—cue the “why pay?” chorus. Parents jumped in asking for clearer age guidance (the listing says 10+, but some want more nuance: supervised soldering vs solo tinkering), and a chorus of scavenger hunters demanded: Where’s the parts kit? Meanwhile, the nostalgia squad arrived swinging: a veteran hailed the 1960s Kosmos sets (vintage link) as the gold standard, triggering a mini history lesson in the replies.
Fans admire that this version is completely rewritten with clearer explanations and a build‑from‑scratch LED reaction game final boss, but jokesters teased the subtitle: “Electronics for Kids (and Adults Who Secretly Want to Play).” The big mood: excitement for a structured, real‑components path—balanced with free‑resource evangelists, kit hunters, and retro purists reminiscing about the old days when a kit was basically a mini college course. TL;DR of the vibes? Soldering irons out, hot takes hotter.
Key Points
- •Second edition released May 2026; 240 pages; full color; ISBN 9781718503502.
- •Features 21 hands-on projects teaching electricity, circuits, and digital electronics for ages 10+ with no prior experience required.
- •Skills covered include reading schematics, soldering, using integrated circuits, and digital logic, culminating in a from-scratch LED reaction game.
- •Completely rewritten with new full-color illustrations and clearer explanations, progressing from basic electricity to digital electronics.
- •Author Øyvind Nydal Dahl (founder of Ohmify) has an electronics/computer science background from the University of Oslo; foreword by Joe Grand; includes praise excerpts from multiple media outlets for the first edition.