Electronic Blocks Mini

Learn circuit basics with these fun electronic blocks! These 46 blocks contain enough transistors, resistors, wireless microphones, and electronics buzzers to run up to 150 different experiments. They require no special tools and allow you to build anything from a lie detector to a diode tester.

There's no English manual so this kit's quite a bit more challenging than the other Gakken kits. The pictures are fairly simple to follow, however, and the kit should only take a couple of hours to build. The Japanese Manual (with pictures) is available for download here.

This kit is very delicate! We recommend this kit for more advanced makers as it only includes a Japanese Manual (with pictures) and may require some minor repair along the way. It might be a good idea to have a multimeter handy when building this kit as it'll make troubleshooting easier.

Inside the magazine there's the same Japanese manual that we've provided, as well as example diagrams of 50 different configurations to make 50 different working circuits. Some of the configurations require some interpretation of diagrams and images (such as pinching two blocks together) but the experiments are worth it and you'll learn along the way.

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1946.  In the 1970s, they began selling educational toys, books, magazines, and electronic kits.  Their kits are known for their smart design and relative ease of use and have a large cult following both in Japan and the United States.