Electronics for kids, by age
Where to start depends less on age than on whether your child can read a short paragraph and type. These bands are a starting point: move up as soon as something feels easy.
- Ages 8 to 18
- About 15 to 60 minutes a project
- Nothing to buy or install
Projects to open
Each one runs in your browser in one click, with no account. Ages and times are suggestions.
555 blinker
A chip that blinks a light by itself. Flip the switch and it changes speed.
- Ages 8 to 10
- About 15 minutes
Gate lab
Press the buttons and the lights show AND, XOR and NOT.
- Ages 9 to 12
- About 20 minutes
Parking sensor
A distance sensor and a beeper, like a car’s parking sensor.
- Ages 14 and up
- About 40 minutes
OLED pong
A real game on a real display, steered with a thumb stick.
- Ages 14 and up
- About 45 minutes
Ages 8 to 10: circuits with no code
Start with what electricity does. These circuits have switches, lights and a timer chip, and no code at all. A grown-up alongside helps with the reading.
- Hello, breadboard: one loop, one light.
- The 555 blinker: a chip that blinks a light on its own.
- Gate lab: press two buttons and watch logic happen.
Ages 11 to 13: first programs
Now the code comes in. Every project starts working, and the first job is to change one thing and see what happens.
- Blink, Fade and Button and LED.
- A night light that reads the room.
- A melody on a piezo.
Ages 14 and up: sensors, screens and games
Real projects with real parts: distance sensors, displays, and games with a score. This is where a teen can start building their own ideas.
- A parking sensor that beeps faster as you get closer.
- Pong on a small screen.
- A weather station with a display.
What you need
Nothing but a browser. Mokxi is a web page. The circuit and the code run inside the browser tab, the C++ compiles there too, and nothing is downloaded or installed, so it works on a school Chromebook, a family laptop or a tablet.
Kids’ privacy, plainly
What happens to a child’s information, written from what the code does.
- Every project here opens and runs with no account, so a child never has to give a name or an email to use it.
- Saving work needs an account. A child under 13 can have one only with consent: a parent writes to us from their own email address and we confirm it, or a school gives consent for its classes.
- For a student in a class, no analytics or advertising tag loads on any page, and classmates never see each other’s email addresses.
The details, for parents and schools: Student data privacy, COPPA and FERPA
Questions
What age is right to start electronics?
Many children enjoy the no-code circuits from about 8 with a grown-up reading along. Typed code tends to suit 11 and up. Go by your child, not the number.
Is it safe?
Yes. Everything runs on screen, so there is no battery to short, nothing hot and no small parts to swallow. Mistakes cost nothing.
Should we buy a kit later?
If your child loves it, a starter kit is a great next step, and the circuits here use the same parts and code. Many families try a few projects here first to see whether the interest lasts.
Give it a try
Open a project, press Run, and change one thing. No account needed to start.
Free forever. Every board and part. Saves your projects. Works on Chromebooks.