Hey HN,<p>christmas is coming and I am searching for gifts to make an infant (3 years) curious about cs or tech in general.<p>I think it is more important to develop a rough understanding of how things work, I do not think that a computer has to be involved.<p>I am looking for a similar present for a 15 year old teenager, too. Similar in terms of developing curiousity in cs. This teen is generally interested in tech and cs but I feel like she does not know how to get started (I think she's missing a cool project as a push).<p>Any advice? I am curios about your answers!
A few years ago we bough our daughter a set of Snap Circuit <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=snap+circuit&tbm=isch" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/search?q=snap+circuit&tbm=isch</a> She liked it a lot (get one with a fan). I think it's a toy for a 7-10 year old, so not in the range of age you want :( , but consider it in a few year.<p>Later, we bough her an Arduino set, one with instruction for small projects. I can't find the exact set, but there are a few sets of $15 in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=arduino&i=electronics" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/s?k=arduino&i=electronics</a> We added a few additional pieces, like a 7-segment led display. This can be suitable for the 15yo.
Nothing, steer them away from tech to be curious in non tech things.<p>Children need not the slightest encouragement to become interested in tech. The question is how do you get them to take an interest in anything else.