 | LEGO Mindstorms NXT
Buy new: $698.99 This is a great kit. However, mid schoolers may need occasional help with the buiding. We found that the books listed below helped make great use of the kit.
The programming can either be using a block like simple structure or for more advanced kids can be directly modfied
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 | LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT: The Mayan Adventure (Technology in Action) by James Floyd Kelly
Buy new: $16.40 / Used from: $11.16 This lego book was the most popular with my 12 year old boy.
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 | The Lego Mindstorms NXT Zoo! An Unofficial, Kid-Friendly Guide to Building Robotic Animals with the Lego Mindstorms NXT by Fay Rhodes
Buy new: $16.55 / Used from: $14.96 My 9 year old girl liked building and programming these the best. She is really good at programming but needed some help with the physical building
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 | Snap Circuits PRO SC-500
Buy new: $55.06 / Used from: $49.55 This, and all the SNAP circuits are fantastic toys, they teach, the kids love them and they can use some of their creations as tools for other science experiments or for science fair.
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 | Radica 20Q Artificial Intelligence Game - Colors may vary since the item may come in 3 different colors
Buy new: $24.87 Great game for the car, try to stump it. It is a lot harder than you think
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 | The Settlers of Catan
Buy new: $33.60 Takes a while to play and set up (think Monopoly) but great fun.
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 | SanDisk Sansa Clip 2 GB MP3 Player - Black
Buy new: $57.47 / Used from: $20.00 My kids use these to store books from the library that they download for free from our public library. Check to see if your library has free digital downloads. They also use them for music of course.
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 | Zoombinis 3 Game Pack - Island Odyssey, Logical Journey, Mountain Rescue
Buy new: $29.99 / Used from: $22.50 All great fun and good brain bending exercise.
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 | Apples to Apples A Game of Hilarious Comparisons - Cards Game
Buy used from: $18.99 Get the adult version (for more cards) but go through the cards to edit out anything inappropriate (based on your kids age).
Provides a good way to introduce people from history when they show up in the deck.
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 | Khet: The Laser Game
Buy new: $38.99 Buy the Khet beamsplitter too, it adds an extra dimension to the game.
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 | Age of Mythology Gold Edition
Buy new: $10.25 / Used from: $6.29 My 12 year old son loves this game. It does have some not too graphic violence.
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 | Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection
Buy new: $9.77 / Used from: $5.67 The hands down favorite of SIM type games in our household with the kids
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 | Klutz LEGO Crazy Action Contraptions
Great fun, build cool things with just a few (included) Legos.
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 | Crazy Machines: The Wacky Contraptions Game
Buy new: $5.99 / Used from: $6.00 I got addicted to this too.
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