STEAM Powered Gift Guide – STEAM gift ideas for young and old

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, something we are pretty passionate about here. We love our STEAM goodies! So when it comes to buying gifts, our choices are often guided by those interests. My boys are getting older and toys just don’t cut it anymore, so I needed to get a little creative this year on my search for great present ideas. I figure I can’t be the only one struggling to find gift ideas for tweens and teenagers (that don’t involve video games!), so I’m sharing my list of favourite STEAM gift ideas for those you love.

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Microscope – For any budding scientist having a great microscope is a must. We already have a desk top microscope from Omax that we love, but this handheld digital microscope from Celestron would be amazing. Being able to send the images to a screen so we can all see the same images would be a huge thing for us. And so much fun!

Raspberry Pi is this amazing kit that teaches everything from circuitry, programming, computing and more. It’s the perfect gift for kids that want to go beyond using a computer to learning how computers actually work. Perfect for the techy, geeky, programming family Raspberry Pi!

Techie Monthly Subscription – And for those that prefer the idea of a gift that keeps on giving tech knowledge, Creation Crate fits the bill perfectly! It teaches breadboards, circuits and programs, in convenient, step-by-step themed boxes that arrive on your doorstep each month. Each box builds on the one before it, so you learn and grow each month!

Music is such a great creative outlet for kids and for my boys one of their favourite musical instruments to play is drums. For those just starting out or that have a small space a Drum Pad is a fantastic idea and won’t bust your budget. Or if you are looking to get a full set, an electronic drum set is a great solution. Plug in some headphones and they can play those rudiments all day long without deafening everyone in the vicinity.

Subscription Box Gifts!

If you are looking for an in the box idea that will keep on giving why not consider a subscription box service? We love STEM Kit Subscriptions and the kids still get crazy excited every month when those boxes arrive. It’s the gift that keeps on giving as you can set up one month or multiple months as part of your gift. It’s all up to you. 

The Future of Printing – It’s amazing how far technology has come and this is especially true when it comes to 3D printers. The fact that I can even consider adding this to our wishlist is amazing. They are smaller, less expensive and based on the reviews seem to be quite good. So as my dream item, I’m adding the LulzBot to our wishlist.

Let it Fly – My oldest loves creating videos and he really wants a drone. I was pleasantly surprised to see that drones with cameras are much more inexpensive than I thought and, according to the reviews, quite durable. I know he is going to LOVE this gift!

We love our Snap Circuits and now there is a more advanced kit ~ Snap Circuits Extreme SC-750R Student Electronics Training Program for older kids that need a bigger challenge. Build a lie-detector, rechargeable battery, dimming lights and more! Snap Circuits are so much fun and with all the extra challenges this would be a gift that would get a lot of use.

Playing board games is so much fun and a fantastic way for families and friends to connect, but sometimes learning how to play the games is a big challenge. Picture my face when my son said he wanted to learn chess. I’ve never played chess and I have no clue how to play! So when I heard about No Stress Chess I knew it was exactly what we needed under the tree this year.

Does anyone ever really outgrow Lego? Even as my boys get older we still love sitting down together and doing builds together. Lego Master Builders Academy provides more advanced builds and challenges than the basic kits, perfect for keeping my STEMists creating with Lego for a long time.

Finally, the Kindle Fire is the perfect gift for those hard to shop for people. They can use them for reading, watching videos, playing games and so much more!

So get out there and make your holiday STEAM powered with some STEAM gift ideas! I couldn’t fit everything here, there are too many cool ideas. So I have even more guides for all the people on your list. Check them all out below!

MORE GIFT IDEAS FROM STEAM POWERED FAMILY