Awesome Stem

The ByteBoi is a great way to learn about electronics and have fun doing it. The kit includes all the parts needed to build your own handheld gaming console and works with Make Code Arcade to create and load games. It’s also available with a complete tool kit for assembly.

Mom and dad always told you not to play with your food. But we think they’d make an exception for these connectors that let you build structures using dry spaghetti. They come in 3-sided and 4-sided versions, in packages of 100 connectors each. Just don’t boil your noodles if you care about structural integrity.

This kit lets you view the night sky not with one eye, but two, for sharper, brighter, and more comfortable stargazing. It can be ordered as plans only, optics and hardware only, as a BYO 3D printing kit, or a kit with pre-printed parts. In 2022, they’ll also open source the build plans. There’s also a large, assembled model, but it’s much pricier.

Puzzle maker Ravensburger’s kits are a blast for kids and kids at heart, letting you easily assemble fast-moving and complex marble runs. Modular components encourage experimentation, and include loops, magnetic cannons, and other tricks. The starter set comes with 122 pieces, while we’d go for the 240-piece XXL set.