You don't need an expensive kit to start. Every project below uses things already in most homes, or free software.
1. The Balloon-Powered Car
Tape a balloon to a straw on a cardboard base with bottle-cap wheels. Blow it up and let go — Newton's third law in action.
2. A Scratch Maze Game
Draw a maze in the free Scratch editor and code a sprite to navigate it — a first real taste of event-based programming.
3. Cardboard Robot Hand
Trace a hand on cardboard, thread string through straw "tendons," and pull from the wrist to curl the fingers — the same principle used in advanced prosthetics.
4. Train a Tiny AI to Sort Photos
Free tools like Teachable Machine let kids show a webcam examples of two categories and watch a model learn to tell them apart live.
5. A One-Page Personal Website
Using a free text editor and three files, build a simple page about a hobby — open it locally, no hosting needed to see it work.
None of these need a credit card. Curiosity is the only prerequisite — everything else can be figured out with what's already around the house.
Want the guided version of these ideas?
These map directly to Modules 01-05 of the curriculum.
See the Curriculum →