Playz Advanced Electrical Circuit Board Kit Review: A STEM Toy My Kids Actually Pick Back Up

The Playz Advanced Electrical Circuit Board kit is the STEM toy in our house my kids have actually picked back up more than once. It is not their favorite toy. It is not the one they keep out on the floor. But it is the one they pick up, build several projects from in a row, then put it away for a month or two, then pull it back out again. For a STEM toy, that is a pretty good track record.

Grade: B—for elementary-age families who want a science toy the kids keep returning to.

Which Playz kit this review covers

I bought the Playz Advanced Electrical Circuit Board Engineering Kit for Kids, the version listing 328+ STEM projects on electricity, voltage, current, resistance, and magnetic science. The Amazon Special Link in this review points to that same listing, ASIN B07QBQZXHK: a yellow plastic mounting board, a battery pack, jumper wires, switches, small motors, LEDs, a buzzer, and a printed project booklet with step-by-step diagrams. Age range per the listing is 8 to 13+.

I am not reviewing any of the smaller Playz kits, the junior snap-circuits kits, or any third-party clone boards sold under similar names. Everything in this review is about the kit on the linked listing.

Everything I say is from how my own kids have used the kit over the time we have had it. I have not tested the current retail packaging against my older one. If you buy one, evaluate it on its own listing.

Living with it

The kit showed up in our house as a birthday gift for one of my elementary-age kids. All of my kids, all in elementary school, have played with it at various points, which is one of the things I like about it: it has range across the age group we have.

The headline experience is building things that actually work. My kids have built circuits with the spinning wing that flies (a small DC motor with a paper propeller), the lights that turn on and off with a switch, the buzzer that buzzes when the circuit closes, and combinations of those. Each project snaps together on the yellow plastic board, the wires run between the components, and the thing you built does the thing it is supposed to do. That last part is what makes this kit better than a lot of other science kits. The kids can see the project work, not just look at it on the page.

The kit comes with a printed guide that shows how to assemble certain circuits. My older kid can follow the guide on their own. My younger kid needs someone to read along. Both of them have built several projects on their own and asked for help on a few more.

The pattern of use in our house has been: a kid gets the kit out, builds two or three projects in a row over a good couple hours, then puts it away. A month or two later, somebody else gets it out, builds a different set of projects for another good couple hours, and puts it away. The cycle keeps repeating. It does not hold their interest for long stretches. They do not play with it every day. They do not spend a week straight on it. But they do come back to it, more than once, on their own.

I have watched them stop playing with the kit, ignore it for a stretch, then pick it back up. STEM toys that get abandoned in a closet after a week are common. This kit has not been one of those. That alone is worth something.

The kit takes 4 AA batteries. That is more than most kids’ toys take, and it adds up if you do not use rechargeables. If you already have AA rechargeables in the house — Eneloops or equivalent — the kit eats them but not in a way you notice on a single play session.

What I like

• The projects actually work. Spin the propeller, the lights come on, the buzzer sounds. The kit connects the project on the page to something visible in the room. That is the win.
• The kit covers several themes at once. Electricity, voltage, current, resistance, and magnetic science are all in the project list. The kids are not just building one kind of circuit over and over.
• It has a range across elementary ages. My kids have all used it. Some on their own, some with help. It works for the age range the listing targets.
• The cycle of use is healthy. Build for a couple hours, put it away for a month or two, come back and build more. It does not get abandoned after a single use.
• The projects are physically varied. A spinning wing that flies is not the same as a buzzer that sounds is not the same as a row of LEDs that light up. My kids pick different projects to build rather than the same one twice.
• The printed guide is enough to get started. The kids do not need me to invent projects for them. The booklet has step-by-step diagrams and the kids can build from it.
• It is science they can see, not science they have to imagine. My kids are not learning the difference between voltage and current in any deep sense, but they are learning that closing a circuit makes something happen. That is real, even if it is shallow.

What annoys me

• It does not hold their interest for very long. A good couple hours, then it goes back in the closet for a month or two. That is the cycle. If you want a toy your kid will be sitting with every night, this is not it.
• The depth of the science is shallow. My kids are having fun. They are not really learning much about voltage versus current versus resistance in a way that will stick. They can build a circuit; they could not explain why the circuit works.
• 4 AA batteries is a lot. The kit eats batteries. If you do not use rechargeables, that adds up over the months of ownership.
• The components are basic. The motor, the LEDs, the buzzer, the switches are all simple output devices. There is no microcontroller, no programming, no real “build your own” beyond the projects in the booklet. Once the kids run out of projects they want to try, the kit is done.
• The booklet is a fixed list. There is no web resource, no expansion packs in the box, no community of additional projects you can download. Once you have built the circuits in the booklet, you are done unless you improvise.
• The kit does not progress with the kid. My older kid ran out of interest faster than the younger one because the projects do not get harder the way a coding kit or a robotics kit does. Once the physical circuit clicks, the next one is more of the same kind of click.
• Storage is on you. The kit comes in a flimsy tray that does not hold up to being put away in a closet and pulled out a few months later. I threw ours in a shoebox with a lid and that has worked fine.

Who it is for, and who should skip it

If you have elementary-age kids, want a science kit, and you are fine with a toy that gets used in cycles rather than continuously, this kit is a good fit. It is best for families with younger kids who want to learn about science and electricity and other fun stuff. The kids will have fun. They will come back to it.

If you want a STEM toy that grows with the kid, that the kid can build with for months and months without running out of projects, or that teaches real depth in any of those topics, this is not the kit. Snap Circuits, LEGO robotics, a microcontroller-based kit, or a programming kit that starts with blocks and ends in real code are better fits for that kid. If your kid is past elementary or is in middle school and wants real STEM progression, this kit will not hold them.

Skip it if you do not already use rechargeable AAs and do not want the battery cost on top of the kit cost. Skip it if you want one STEM toy that lasts a year. Skip it if you want depth on the science side. Keep it if you want a hands-on electricity kit the kids will return to a few times before they outgrow it.

Verdict

A STEM electricity kit my elementary-age kids actually pick back up. The projects work, the cycle of use is healthy, and the science is shallow but real. The kids have fun. They learn a little. They do not stay with it for long stretches. That is the kit.

Grade: B—for elementary-age families who want a STEM toy the kids keep returning to. Buy it with caveats. Buy the linked listing if your family matches mine.

For the nerds

Detail	My Playz kit	Linked Playz Advanced Electrical Circuit Board Engineering Kit
Brand	Playz	Playz
ASIN	—	B07QBQZXHK
Projects listed	328+	328+ (listing claim)
Topics covered	Electricity, voltage, current, resistance, magnetic science	Same (per listing)
Age range per listing	8 to 13+	8 to 13+ (per listing)
Mount board	Yellow plastic platform with snap slots	Yellow plastic platform (per listing)
Output components	DC motor, LED bulbs, buzzer, switches	DC motor, LEDs, buzzer, switches (per listing)
Input components	Switches, jumper wires, magnetic components	Same (per listing)
Battery requirement	4 AA	4 AA (per listing)
Guide	Printed booklet with project diagrams	Printed booklet (per listing)
My use pattern	A few hours at a time, monthly-ish cycles over the lifetime	—
Kids who have used it	All elementary-age kids in the household	—
My ownership	Birthday gift, used across multiple cycles	—