Electronics and engineering experiments can be a fascinating experience in childhood. If a child has, luckily enough, someone in the family, neighborhood or school who has a knowledge of, and interest in, electronics and engineering, it can be a great way to learn something useful. If a child is able to see the great and interesting way in which ideas can shape discoveries, then he or she may be able to become an inventor of useful things later in life.
Many aspects of engineering and electronics can be hand trained; that is to say, someone with experience can teach the basics of building new gadgets to a child with intelligence. No theoretical knowledge save the basics is required here. A little hands on training can enable a child to produce marvelous scientific gadgets all by themselves.
For example, the science of radio communication is a field which has long been taught to children at home. There was a time, before the rise of the internet communication scenario, when young ham radio jocks abounded all across America. Often those sitting behind these radios were youngsters and teenagers, and the radios were either home made, or customized from store brought radios. Either way, it was a good exercise of one’s creative faculties, and as a result, America saw a string of home grown scientific inventions and patents during the previous generation.
In this generation, that particular interest is almost gone; but it has been replaced by something not any less fascination – the computer. Many teenagers have learned computing as children, and have grown into masters of this esoteric field of science. It is true that building a computer is perhaps a little more difficult than building a ham radio, but both are equally interesting. So, in this age, one of the greatest service parents can do to their children is to create in them a healthy love for computers, both hardware and software.