Build Your Own Magnetic Circuit Blocks

Educational tech toys are important for getting children interested in STEM fields. Those kinds of toys are particularly useful for building electronic circuits. While experienced adults might be comfortable with breadboards and jumpers, those are pretty intimidating to children. A lot of systems have been developed over the years to simplify the process of creating circuits, but none of them have exactly caught on as any kind of standard. That means the compatible components quickly become outdated. By following rgco’s Instructables tutorial, you can build your own circuit block system that you can update whenever you like.

These blocks are both affordable to make and easy to use. Each block has electronic contacts with magnets to hold blocks securely together. The blocks themselves are constructed from cardboard, and the contacts are copper foil. From a practical perspective, you could really make the blocks out of anything — even use 3D-printed enclosures if you want something more durable. But there is something to be said for using the relatively eco-friendly cardboard over plastic.

Each of those blocks can be embedded with whatever kind of discrete components you like. For example, you can shove in a resistor to make a magnetic resistor block. Once you’ve got a decent selection of blocks, you can simply snap them together to form working circuits. With a pack of 100 magnets, you can build a set of 23 blocks that should be enough to create a variety of circuits. Of course, you can always add new blocks as needed to create more complex circuits in the future. This might not have the polish of fancy mass-produced kits, but it is an economical and highly-customizable option.