Exploring Electronics This weekend, we put together basic LED circuits to introduce Jasmine (6 yrs 10 mo) and Adam (3 yrs 4 mos) to the joys of building with electronics. The circuit was a standard 3V DC LED, a 1k-ohm resistor, powered by a 9V battery, with connections made using test leads with alligator clips. The excitement when the LED lit was priceless! :)

Moving on to a solderles breadboard, I've added a tactile push-button switch and a brightness control using a potentiometer to vary the resistance, with a 470-ohm resistor to protect the LED from being overdriven.

To explore electronics yourself, or with your children, check out the kit I'm putting together, here.

http://mathscitech.org/articles/exploring-electronics

Notes, exercises, and further projects will be recorded on this webpage.