Hands On Options
Arduino Uno
The Arduino UNO is the best board to get started with electronics and coding. If this is your first experience tinkering with the platform, the UNO is the most robust board you can start playing with. The UNO is the most used and documented board of the whole Arduino family. I suggest doing the virtual version of this first (or at the same time), I have a whole video series on it here. If you use these in person (which is awesome), you'll need to get your set up approved by me before powering them (so components don't burn out). Websites to use: arduino.cc and tinkercad.com
3Doodler 3D Pen
A 3D pen is a pen that extrudes heated or warm plastic from the pen’s nozzle. You don’t need any software. There are no files to transfer, and no difficult tech to master. In the words of a teacher we work with, “whatever you imagine, you can draw. It goes from your brain, to your hand, right there.” Please don't try to fix these yourself, they end up jamming and then they don't work. If there is a problem with one, be sure to ask me.
Drone Simulator
While it's not truly a drone (since it isn't automated flight) TinyWhoopGo is an AWESOME FREE quadcopter simulator to learn the controls for flying RC. It doesn't use a lot of system resources, and you can compete with others online. You need to sign up for a login (but it's free).
Edison Programmable Robot
Edison is a programmable robot designed to be a complete STEM teaching resource for coding and robotics education for students from 4 to 16 years of age. Website to use: edscratchapp.com
K'Nex
K'Nex is a building system consists of interlocking plastic rods, connectors, blocks, gears, wheels, and other components, which can be assembled to form a wide variety of models, machines, and architectural structures.
Lego Mindstorms
A hardware and software structure which is produced by Lego for the development of programmable robots based on Lego building blocks. Websites to use: Scratch and Lego Mindstorms
littleBits
Our magnetic “Bits” snap together to turn ideas into inventions, transforming the way kids learn about electronics so they can grow up to be the creators of tomorrow.
Magna-Tiles
Let your imagination take over and build cool 2D and 3D structures!
Makey Makey
Connect the world to your computer!
Websites to use: Scratch and Makey Makey How-To
Micro:bit
Get creative, get connected, get coding! The pocket-sized computer transforming the world. Website to use: MakeCode
Origami
Learn to make things with just paper and folding.
Paper Airplanes
Sphero SPRK+
This little robot is a lot of fun!