Learning Explorations:

The following learning explorations are designed to guide you as you explore with your circuit blocks. We recommend that you approach these in sequence, moving slowly. Please imagine new activities and extensions to explore as you go. Look for connections to the world around you. 

Regarding Electricity:

It is important to limit our explorations to battery powered circuits and devices - we should never play with electricity from an electrical outlet. This is very dangerous. Even small batteries can be dangerous if we are not careful. Our Batteries Block is specially designed with a re-settable fuse, which protects it from short circuits (which can cause batteries to get very hot and, on occasion, can cause them to catch fire). While the risk of injury is very low with these materials, we must remind you that these are not toys, but are learning tools - they are designed specifically for young children, but adult supervision and common sense is always recommended. In addition, these components do contain small pieces that can be a choking hazard for very young children.

Make it a rule to only use one Batteries Block within each circuit. As you explore and want to build more complex circuits, you may find this limits what you think is possible. When you reach this point, we encourage you to learn the difference between parallel and series circuits. With parallel circuits, it is possible to have several Circuit Block components function at once with one set of batteries! In addition, each of our components are designed to function best at 3 volts, which is the voltage supplied by our Battery Blocks. Using more voltage can damage the components.