4 ms·

You simply help him widen his horizons in areas that interest him, engineering in this particular case. Provide him with support and logistics. Get him smart t

by tpiha 11y ago

You simply help him widen his horizons in areas that interest him, engineering in this particular case. Provide him with support and logistics. Get him smart toys as he's growing, like the thing you mentioned, like Lego, like Makeblock (http://www.makeblock.cc/ http://www.makeblock.cc/), toys that encourage creativity. I'm sure you can find great resources for kids to learn how to code, that's where you come in. He expresses the wish to learn how to code, you find out what's best out there to do it in his age.

orless 11y ago
Thank you. My problem is that I don't know a lot of "smart" things. A normal offline toy shop does not have much to offer. And you have to know what to look for online. Makeblock looks interesting.
- tpiha 11y ago
  Those old Meccano sets were awesome too, you can still find them on Ebay. When he's older, radio controlled airplanes, cars, helicopters, boats. You could probably have a general DIY attitude and build some toys for him with him. This looks cool too: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/infento/infento-worlds-first-real-constructible-rides https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/infento/infento-worlds-...
  - orless 11y ago
    Oh, yes, Meccano is a good hint. Requires different mechanical/fine motoric skills compared to Lego Technik/Fischertechnik. As for Infento - looks very neat, a bit too "prepared" for my taste. We do such things from wood and stuff you can buy from the local hardware store. Here's an example of something we've built in a day: https://twitter.com/orless/status/632590264964657152 https://twitter.com/orless/status/632590264964657152
- raspasov 11y ago
  When I was a kid I had a number of Lego Technic sets - they are great! Might not be proper "engineering" but still allows you to touch and build a simplified version of many real-world things, for example a car's drive shaft. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=technics+lego http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3D... If he's already pretty skilled, he'll definitely be able to handle even the sets that are marked 10 years old +. I recall I had one of these when I was 6, it was a slight challenge but that was the fun part : ).
  - orless 11y ago
    Yes, he handles 9+ pretty well. He's now playing a lot with Fischertechnik (http://www.fischertechnik.de/home/produkte.aspx http://www.fischertechnik.de/home/produkte.aspx), it's a German analog of Lego Technic (or vice versa, whatever), but as far as I can tell it's somewhat closer to reality. I'll take a closer look at Lego Technic though, thank you.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  Get in touch with a local Hackerspace. There are lots of them in Germany, usually related to the Chaos Computer Club. They'll happily provide you with pointers and directions about what to get and where to look for it.
  - orless 11y ago
    Oh, Hackerspace is a good hint. We'll definitely come by. And they're basically around the corner (allright, a few kilometers). http://www.hackerspace-ffm.de/ http://www.hackerspace-ffm.de/

by tpiha 11y ago

orless 11y ago

Thank you. My problem is that I don't know a lot of "smart" things. A normal offline toy shop does not have much to offer. And you have to know what to look for online. Makeblock looks interesting.

tpiha 11y ago
Those old Meccano sets were awesome too, you can still find them on Ebay. When he's older, radio controlled airplanes, cars, helicopters, boats. You could probably have a general DIY attitude and build some toys for him with him. This looks cool too: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/infento/infento-worlds-first-real-constructible-rides https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/infento/infento-worlds-...
- orless 11y ago
  Oh, yes, Meccano is a good hint. Requires different mechanical/fine motoric skills compared to Lego Technik/Fischertechnik. As for Infento - looks very neat, a bit too "prepared" for my taste. We do such things from wood and stuff you can buy from the local hardware store. Here's an example of something we've built in a day: https://twitter.com/orless/status/632590264964657152 https://twitter.com/orless/status/632590264964657152
raspasov 11y ago
When I was a kid I had a number of Lego Technic sets - they are great! Might not be proper "engineering" but still allows you to touch and build a simplified version of many real-world things, for example a car's drive shaft. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=technics+lego http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3D... If he's already pretty skilled, he'll definitely be able to handle even the sets that are marked 10 years old +. I recall I had one of these when I was 6, it was a slight challenge but that was the fun part : ).
- orless 11y ago
  Yes, he handles 9+ pretty well. He's now playing a lot with Fischertechnik (http://www.fischertechnik.de/home/produkte.aspx http://www.fischertechnik.de/home/produkte.aspx), it's a German analog of Lego Technic (or vice versa, whatever), but as far as I can tell it's somewhat closer to reality. I'll take a closer look at Lego Technic though, thank you.
TeMPOraL 11y ago
Get in touch with a local Hackerspace. There are lots of them in Germany, usually related to the Chaos Computer Club. They'll happily provide you with pointers and directions about what to get and where to look for it.
- orless 11y ago
  Oh, Hackerspace is a good hint. We'll definitely come by. And they're basically around the corner (allright, a few kilometers). http://www.hackerspace-ffm.de/ http://www.hackerspace-ffm.de/