I still remember the day when I had my first Arduino UNO board, and I was only 14 years old. I made its light blink with a delay of 5000ms, that made me super happy. Most importantly, it didn’t only motivate me to go further in electronics, but it also enhanced my programming skills.
I then started working on some different projects just like automating on my room lights, and turning on my room fan using Arduino, but it required some programming to automate things on their own, and I was only 14 years.
You must be confused about whether this microcontroller board is good for the kids, or it is just for the electronics students?
Yes, it is perfect for the kids, and there’s no age limit to learn the Arduino as long as you have basic sense, and skill in troubleshooting the problems. It is a single-board microcontroller that develops interesting objects like line following robot, water level sensors. It gets inputs from different switches or sensors, and controls motors, lights, or other physical devices.
If your child is familiar with technology, then arduino is the perfect way to let your kids know about an absolutely new world of technology and electronics. It will give your child confidence to thrive, and giving it will let your child stay a step forward from others.
Can a 6 years old learn Arduino?
We all are surrounded by technology like smartphones, computers, television, and many more. Yes, a 6-year-old, or older can learn Arduino because of its easy to use, and open source hardware and software program.
A kid from grades 4-7 can easily learn the basics of circuits; a resistor, and a simple LED would be fine for you to do experiments and projects. To keep yourself, and your kid away hustle free there is a guide about the list of components that would go best for the beginner projects.
NOTE: I would highly recommend you to consider Arduino kits that are perfect for kids instead of buying components separately. They will have fun and learn at the same time.
What Age is Perfect for Kids to Learn Arduino and its Programming?
If your kid is about 8 to 10 years old and is good with the numbers and technology, then they only need your supervision to start learning Arduino, and reach the heights.
To teach your kids about Arduino you could follow the steps:
- Start with the basics and with small projects just like LED blinking built-in examples, and traffic signal lights.
- Take baby steps and then evolve further steps.
- Don’t buy components separately, get a basic Arduino UNO, a resistor, and a simple LED would go fine for your kid.
- Run the code with an example and blink LED.
No doubt Arduino is for kids as well. To be independent in learning Arduino 12+ is the optimal age. You don’t need to spend more time on buying a special kit, or making a list of the components. You can get started with a single Arduino board and an LED.
Recommended Reading: Arduino UNO surely is the best starter when it comes to learning Arduino because of its price, easy to use, and the community that helps in troubleshooting the problems. If you are interested to know about the UNO at a deeper level this guide would do wonders.
7 Reasons Why You Must Teach Arduino to Your Kids
#1: Light on the wallet
If your goal is to do amazing projects, and you are also thinking about the economical board then you don’t need to worry about anything. The incredible thing about Arduino is that it is less expensive, and the price of an Arduino UNO board is less than $20, and the most cost effective board among the Arduino family is NANO Every which is about less than $10. Arduino UNO is the most used board in the industry because of its flexibility and ease of use. It can be integrated with other boards as well which makes this board the best starter board.
#2: Best point to develop critical skills
A couple of years ago I was asking the same question: what skill did an Arduino develop? It didn’t only teach me to learn programming, but it taught me about the sensors, switches, capacitors, resistors, LEDs, buttons, and how they work, or how to make a functional project, or how these sensors interpret the numbers and send data to the microcontroller.
Before we move forward on to the discussion you should know that Arduino could mean the following:
- Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is a software which is used to program the board.
- Arduino board – a microcontroller (Arduino UNO, Arduino Mega, Arduino Nano)
As a beginner you should start with both; programming, and hardware. You can’t just choose one, and be the master in one.
#3: Become a problem solver
Although Arduino is based on electronics and technology, the lesson you learn from doing the experiment and building the projects can apply in all professions of life. As problem-solving and learning are essential for modern civilization, you can enhance yourself by building projects on Arduino. As you know, programming is no more than teaching a computer or machine what to do. It would be best if you put parameters and conditions for every action. Not only will it help your kid deal with the issue, but it can also help your kid reduce stress and give confidence to your kids. So the foundation of your kids in Arduino is a long-life success.
#4: Able to build a good career
Along with being attractive, learning Arduino is simple and more accessible as well. It helps your kid choose a perfect profession and build a promising career with Arduino. The field of engineering where software, and hardware come together is called ‘embedded system’. It includes your mobile phone where you use everyday for daily routine tasks to xbox where your kids play fifa; everything is related to the embedded system.
To understand how software and hardware work on a deeper level and to create a functional device will open huge career opportunities for you in future. You need to make a decision where you would like to pursue whether you want to go on the software side, or the hardware side. If your kid takes a good interest, you will become an electronics engineer, or embedded engineer to turn your passion into a profession. There are many ways that Arduino can prepare your kid for a better and more rewarding life.
#5: The best way to introduce programming
There are many more advanced microcontrollers available in the industry, but Arduino is yet the best and easy to use software and hardware platform. It is easy to use, and open source platform as you can start your programming with some built-in arduino examples on Arduino IDE software which is used to program the Arduino.
#6: Stay your child away from other gadgets
Kids love tablets, and other mobile app games, but if you instigate your child toward programming or Arduino, they may stay away from online gaming and useless things. It helps your kids spend more time with coding and programming that create interest in them. So they will become eager to learn more once the previous one is complete. They engage themselves in thinking and designing and spend their spare time on good work.
#7: Get knowledge of electronics
Your child may not be familiar with circuits and electronics at an early age. They forget their learned subjects on vacation, but kids feel amazing while making discoveries. Along with play, they find Arduino an integral part of their life as they spend more time thinking. There is no need for a specific mentor to teach your kid about Arduino. Despite this, there are a lot of Arduino communities available that help you in coding, and troubleshooting the problem. Also there are many good youtube channels that specifically talk about the Arduino.
Why is it important to teach your kids Arduino?
Arduino improves coding and electronics skills that allow your kids to become familiar with the fundamentals of designing and electrical engineering. It helps your child to boost their ability to think.
Have you heard, ‘sky’s the limit.’ that specifically said about the kids. There’s no limit, or boundary when you have an open source platform. Your child gets the confidence to build new and exciting projects and represent them on a bigger level.
Why should kids learn Arduino?
Arduino helps kids to learn in a new dimension, and become a better embedded software engineer. Arduino programming is the best tool for kids to learn electronics and coding as it easily integrates with hardware and components. Because of its functionality, and open source hardware, and software makes it the best for kids.
From controlling a robot to managing IoT for a home automation project, you can do everything with Arduino.
The main benefits of learning Arduino:
- You can build an awesome project
- It is great for programming
- Easily learn electronics
- It’s inexpensive to start
- Arduino is better than Raspberry Pi
What are Specific Tools that Your Kids Need to Begin With?
If your kid is starting programming with Arduino, they do not need much to start and make interesting and awesome projects. Here is a list of things your kid needs to start with Arduino.
Arduino Main Board
There is a wide variety of Arduino boards available in the market. Each Arduino board has its own specification, and functionality, but three boards are the most common and widely used in the industry that are Arduino UNO, Arduino MEGA, and Arduino Leonardo.
Don’t just think of getting all three in your first round.
The best among the three boards is Arduino UNO because of its low cost, optimal size, and long life. Arduino UNO will allow your kids to enhance their knowledge and skill set.
Wiring & Accessories
Before you make up your mind to purchase the Arduino board, wiring and accessories are also important. The most important accessory is Breadboard. It is used for prototyping, and comes in various sizes. You can buy it according to your requirements and projects.
As it is a prototyping board, it will be easier to do projects with the breadboard, but you need jumper wires to connect different components with each other.
Jumper wires are used to connect the Arduino board with different components and breadboard. There are three types of jumper wires Plug to Plug, Plug to the socket, and socket to socket.