Has your child recently shown an interest in electronics? Perhaps you want to encourage this hobby, but have no idea where to begin?
There are plenty of questions you are probably asking yourself, such as what age should I introduce electronics and how do I approach this when I have little knowledge myself?
This article will outline when you should start introducing electronics into your child’s life and what the benefits are of doing so.
Where to begin?
Whether you’ve heard of soldering irons or circuit diagrams before or not, they can certainly sound daunting to a parent. However, there are numerous products that aim to make the world of electronics more accessible to children.
It’s never too early to start learning how to code. Rather than introducing your children to standard computers, it’s the science behind them that allow kids to become more creative. For example, the micro:bit is a tiny microcontroller board and is an educational product that’s developed for computer science. It introduces beginners to the basic concept of coding.
There are a number of online coding courses to help your child get started. You can choose a course depending on your child’s skillset, and the resources are intended to educate your child in a simple, fun way that gets their minds thinking.
Continuous exposure to electronics as a child may encourage this interest to develop further into adulthood. They may want to pursue a career within the industry, whether that be telecommunications or aerospace engineering – the list is endless.
They could even venture into PCB prototyping and have your development come to life. The benefits of prototyping first allow you to detect design flaws in the production process, whilst enabling you to test multiple designs without it costing the earth.
Alternatively, web development could be something they are keen to learn. The importance of programming skills in today’s digital world only continues to grow, and is a great transferable skill that can be used in multiple professions.
Your child will be one step ahead of the game if they know how to build websites. Whether they go on to pursue a career in writing, photography or social media, or just setting their own business up in general, website development skills certainly won’t go to waste. There are many website building sites that you child can practice on for free.
Conclusion
As we continue to adapt in a modern, digital world, it’s never been more important for our kids to prepare for the future. Get your child’s creative juices flowing by having a little fun with coding kits, online resources and web development.
