Hi, DS loves to help me work on my PC, whether cleaning it or upgrading. Recently we replaced a broken fan. Now he says he wants to build a computer. He is 8 now and I figure a low end PC with no internet connection in his room might not be such a bad idea, so I talked to him about us building one together.
But DS doesn't want to just put together parts, he wants to actually build the whole thing from scratch. I explained to him that a modern computer is far too complex to build without all sorts of specialized equipment. I said maybe we could find a kit where you can build a calculator. He was not impressed. In fact, he pointed out that he already has a calculator and doesn't need another.
What he really wants to do is build a motherboard. He is fascinated by all the chips and connections and cool doohickies. I thought about digging up an old board, prying everything off, and putting it back together again, but I am a little worried about lead and I'm certainly not going to give DS a soldering gun!
So, my question is, does anyone know of a kit that would give us the closest to the experience that DS wants? We already have snap circuits and he no longer has any interest in it. He really enjoys complexity and snap circuits doesn't really deliver in that area. Last year I bought him a super cheap keyboard that he had a good time disassembling and reassembling. He quickly memorized the keyboard by putting the keys back in, so it helped with typing as well. DS rarely asks for (or plays with) toys, so I really want to come up with something for him. Not that building a motherboard is much of a toy request, but for DS it's as close as we are going to get
