And don't forget Lego Mindstorms! Doesn't teach the hardware but it is much more fun than I ever had in LOGO back in the fourth or fifth grade ... I forget which. -----Original Message----- From: Michael Lee <mikelee at tdh.com> Subj: Re: Teaching kids about computers... Date: Wed Nov 21, 2007 11:17 am Size: 3K To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> This is actually one of the topics I'm most interested in. I gear my collection towards teaching and showing kids, as well as the nostalgic adults. Over the years, I've been surprised by some of the reactions, so I found it best to adapt to the interest level of the audience. For fundamental computing and electronics, it seems to be best to go back to the basics. A lot of the books available either go too much into the history of computing, or get into topics/details that quickly lose the interest of a kid. It seems to be best to relate something they are used to in modern day and work back to the origins. For example, a xbox, it's basically a computer, it has a CPU, hard drive, memory and then other "blocks" such as graphics processing, networking etc. Those are easy to relate back to "how it works." Basic I/O, what is actually on the game disk, how and what makes "online" work, and what the machine is doing in the background. This easily then can lead to small projects and some programming. From there it can be basic logic functions (AND/OR/NOT) and the simple concepts of programming and making things happen. Depending on the interest and geek level of the kid, there are many hobby books that explain this well. I don't know if "vintage" computers is the best way to start as I found a lot of kids (esp. 9yo) are turned off by "it's just old crap" But can easily lead into more of the origins. Something "new" is good to start. There are a good number of hobby kits like the BASIC STAMP now that can teach both the electronics and computing aspect, which then can lead into other things. A little simple micro-controller kit, with a little instruction on logic, electricity and electronics can go a long way. Making stuff, and making stuff happen is always a plus, so a soldering iron lesson with an interesting kit always works too. But once again, all depends on the interest level. Mike Lee Geek Museum A funny story with where things might lead: I got a rotary dial phone in my collection to use with an acoustic coupler. A four year old sees this, and has no problem with the phone, nor the rotary dial. He understood the concept it's just a different user interface, but what got him was that it was wired down. He had never seen a phone handset with a cord attached. So this lead to interesting show and tell about telephone technology to a four year old. Jules Richardson wrote: