We’re getting a wonderful response to our Getting Started with Arduino giveaway. The theme is “everything you always wanted to know about Arduino but were afraid to ask.” You can ask your vexing questions to be eligible for one of five copies of this popular little Getting Started tome, or you can help out your fellow makers by answering questions (and also be eligible). The deadline for entries is Thursday night at 11:59pm PST.

Here’s one of the exchanges from the giveaway post:

Q: What’s a good age for a child to start using Arduino? I have some young’uns, and don’t want to start them too early and scare them off if they can’t quite grasp it.

A: I think it depends on the child, but I have shown projects to my 8 and 5 year olds. They even find the LED blinking to be great. Just be ready to take over the project if they seem lost in it. They will enjoy themselves even if all what they are doing is watching you work on a project and asking questions. Let them compile the programs and load them to the Arduino. Even a minimal involvement makes them happy and makes them feel like they contributed.

My personal belief is that young kids will remember whatever they were exposed to when they were little with fondness. So the earlier you expose them to electronics or programming, the more they will have that fuzzy connection for the rest of their lives with the subject.

Getting Started with Arduino giveaway

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And check out our new Make: Arduino page for great hobby microcontroller content