Snap Circuits by Elenco
Ranked 3 of 3 electronics kits by recommenders
Kids learn circuit building from snap-together parts that carry over to real circuits in school. Critics say the kit itself teaches little and feels too toy-like.
Kids learn circuit building from snap-together parts that carry over to real circuits in school. Critics say the kit itself teaches little and feels too toy-like.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Kids enjoy it and learn circuits
“they were enjoyable and the knowledge proved useful when I started working with real circuits in high school and college”
Comment from 25 Dec 2025 in “Toys with the highest play-time and lowest clean-up-time” “One of my kiddos loved SnapCircuits.”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “Before pixels: Modular industrial dashboards”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Too limited to teach much
“the kit itself doesn't teach much”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Has early Scratch experience led to fulfilling careers?” “It was too limited and toy-like.”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: How did you teach analog electronics to your kids?”
Other electronics kits people recommend
The two most recommended other electronics kits, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lego Mindstorms | 15 | 6 | 71% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Beni robot by Microduck | 7 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Snap Circuits by ElencoThis page | 5 | 2 | 71% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“One of my kiddos loved SnapCircuits.”
“the kit itself doesn't teach much”
“It was too limited and toy-like.”
“I think the modern version is Snap Circuits”
“The real “genius” of them is that the grid spacing and the width/thickness of each component is well-balanced”
“they were enjoyable and the knowledge proved useful when I started working with real circuits in high school and college”
“Not at all fussy or fragile.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.