Electronics for Kids, 2nd Edition: Play with Simple Circuits and Experiment with Electricity!

by Oyvind Nydal Dahl

Overview

Learn to (safely) control electricity with the click of a button, the tip of a finger, and even the light from the sun!

Why do lights blink? How does a speaker make noise? In Electronics for Kids, you’ll discover the magic of electricity through hands-on projects designed to safely teach the basics while having fun and building cool gadgets.

Ward off intruders with an alarm that buzzes when someone opens your bedroom door, create a secret message machine to communicate with friends, and build your own playable musical instrument with funky digital sounds — all while learning the ins and outs of batteries, breadboards, and more!

Throughout your electronics journey, you’ll:

• Explore how resistance, voltage, and current work
• Solder components to a circuit board to create permanent projects
• Use transistors to create “smart” devices that react to touch
• Turn 1s and 0s into words and images
• Build circuits that help you decide things, like a coin flipper that randomly picks heads or tails

This second edition is revised and updated to focus on building a strong foundation of electronics, with more accessible language, less convoluted theory, and a focus on inexpensive, readily available components and tools. Full-color illustrations, diagrams, and new high quality photographs provide helpful context and keep readers engaged.

Ready to have the incredible world of electronics at your fingertips? After reading Electronics for Kids, you will be!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781718503502
Publisher:	No Starch Press
Publication date:	05/12/2026
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

About the Author

Øyvind Nydal Dahl built his first circuit at 14 and has been passionate about electronics ever since. He has a master’s degree in electronics from the University of Oslo, helps companies develop new products, and travels the world while teaching electronics workshops. He also writes beginner-friendly tutorials at http://www.build-electronic-circuits.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Getting Started

Chapter 1: How Electricity Flows
Experiment: Build Your Own Secret Intruder Alarm

Chapter 2: Can You Resist the Power?
Experiment: Light Up an LED Without Breaking It

Chapter 3: Breadboards: Your Circuit-Building Tool
Experiment: Build a Reusable Breadboard Flashlight

Chapter 4: Storing Electric Power
Experiment: Make an LED Fade Like Magic

Chapter 5: Connecting the Dots with Solder
Experiment: Build a Durable Circuit That Lasts

Chapter 6: Making Circuits React Automatically
Experiment: Create a Touch Sensor Circuit

Chapter 7: Resistors with Superpowers
Experiment: Build a Sunlight-Activated Alarm

Chapter 8: Integrated Circuits: Tiny Packets of Wonder
Experiment: Make Your Own Beep-Boop Machine

Chapter 9: Controlling LEDs with Decade Counters
Experiment: Design an LED Reaction Game

Handy Resources
Index

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the first edition of Electronics for Kids:

“Beautifully designed.”
—Boing Boing

“Enlightening and fun.”
—The MagPi

“Chock-full of photographs to help guide young learners along, this book is a great jumping off point for those who are interested in learning about simple circuits and electricity.”
—School Library Connection

“Electronics for Kids continues the No Starch Press tradition of publishing smart books that make STEM topics accessible and encourage kids to think.”
—Homeschool.com

“Electronics for Kids is a fantastic tool for diving into the world of electronics and circuitry.”
—Vivify STEM

“There’s just the right mix of reading and hands-on projects that I’m confident the kids won’t get bored. Even better, the projects won’t insult their intelligence… they feature real components, a real breadboard, and actual schematics. I have no doubt that young readers will finish this book with a solid understanding of the basics of electronics and maybe even a desire to go further and learn more… a win for a parent or a teacher!”
—GeekDad

“This kind of book is the cure for the sense of depression you feel when you go to the toy store and look at the “science” section and everything you see is crap. Just get this book.”
—ScienceBlogs

“The author has pulled off a tremendous balancing act by creating a book that is fun and interesting, that has the reader building things and making stuff happen right from the get-go, and that manages to explain the underlying theory without talking down to the audience.”
—EE Times

From the Publisher