Does your child find spelling and grammar boring? You can easily change that! These spelling lists are on topics that kids love. Mix in some fun games like spelling blasters and your kid will practically be begging you to practice spelling.
Spelling and pronunciation don’t always match in the English language, making these different spelling combinations hard to memorize. The sport loving kid will have fun practicing them with this sports spelling list.
Are your kids bored and looking for a fun activity to challenge them? Try building the Circuitmess Nibble!
If you are like me, it’s been a challenge coming up with activities to keep your children busy during these lockdowns and quarantines.
The product we are reviewing today provides many learning opportunities and practical life skills for your eager learners. We will look through the whole process, from ordering, building and the next steps for the Circuitmess Nibble.
Circuitmess Nibble Description
The Circuitmess Nibble is a DIY (Do it yourself) handheld game console. The kit comes with all of the parts you will need to assemble the console.
Through building this kit your child will learn:
– how to Solder components onto a circuit board – how game consoles are assembled and what parts make up a console – how to load software onto the console – how to code their own games (an extra activity after the console is made) – a huge sense of accomplishment
Disclaimer: I am not sponsored or funded by Circuitmess. I am a programming teacher and thought this product had some great educational potential so I wanted to share my experience and my own thoughts. I assembled this myself to test out the process. No technical background is needed to build this product. Parent involvement is required.
All right let us start!
Orderingthe Nibble
All the parts ready to be put together!
I purchased my Nibble from the Circuitmess store. At the time of writing this, they have a 20% early-bird deal. The kit costs $99 CAD, and comes with free worldwide shipping. I have also seen kits sold on amazon, and through select hobby/maker stores here in Canada however quantities are limited and I’m not sure if those stores provide free shipping or not.
Shipping
Circuitmess ships their kits through DHL. The package can be tracked and gives you notifications if they require any updates on the package. I ordered my kit on Feb 27th and received it on March 3rd (4 days total), well before the “Expected” delivery date of March 8th. I was very happy by the speed of the shipping as it is being shipped all the way from Croatia. It also arrived in perfect shape which is always excellent.
My only issue with ordering was that there is an “Import Duty” on the package, which cost me around $29 CAD which is substantial when I was unaware of any additional fees I would have to pay. This fee may vary depending on your country’s tax and import fees. This is on the shipping company itself, not an issue with the product from Circuitmess.
The guide is quite comprehensive and has plenty of pictures, notes and supports various languages as well.
Before starting there are soldering guides that are appropriate tutorials first time soldering.
They recommend some extra tools to help with the build process, the only one I found would have helped was the “helping hand” tool.
Neiko Hiltex 01902 Helping Hand with Magnifying Glass
Neiko Hiltex 01902 Helping Hand with Magnifying Glass: Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement
For myself I used everything included in the box except the screw driver as I preferred mine. I also used a soldering mat to help organize components and prevent my desk/work area from being burned.
Voniry Anti-Static Soldering Mat, Cellphone Repair Mat Heat-Resistant Magnetic Multi-Purpose Work Station Pad for Soldering Brazing Phone Watch Repair 500℃(40 x 30 cm)
Voniry Anti-Static Soldering Mat, Cellphone Repair Mat Heat-Resistant Magnetic Multi-Purpose Work Station Pad for Soldering Brazing Phone Watch Repair 500℃(40 x 30 cm): Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement
The build is very straight forward:
Solder the buttons on
Solder the power switch on
Solder the screen on
Solder the battery container on
Solder the buttons on
Solder the power switch
Solder the screen
Solder the battery
Insert the fuse
Insert the batteries and test the console
Insert the fuse above the power switch
Moment of truth, turn it on and see if it works!
Peel the plastic off of the acrylic case
Assemble the back case
Assemble the front case
Add the battery cover
Peel off the plastic from the case
Add the mounts and the back case
Add the front casing
Add the battery cover and you’re finished!
I will be releasing a full video build later this month, going further in depth into the build.
Build Challenges
The only things I found slightly challenging with the build was adding the screen and the battery container.
The buttons and the power switch have a feature that allows them to clamp onto the board making soldering easy. The screen does not have that feature which makes it a bit fiddly. You need to carefully lay the console down flat on its face, on the screen itself, when soldering. When you do this, make sure that A) you keep pressure off of the device and the screen so you do not break it and B) that the device is balanced so the screen doesn’t end up soldered on an angle.
As for the battery container, I had a hard time getting it to lay flat on the back of the device. I’m not sure if my battery container was warped, but it ended up crooked after soldering. You can see how my battery container turned out in the picture below.
Battery didn’t sit flat on the board. Not a problem with the console itself.
I was elated when I turned the device on after soldering to find that there were no issues with it and that it was working 100%! This means that all of the solder joints were done correctly and I did not have to re-do any of them.
Next Stepsfor the Nibble
After building the device what can you do with it next?
Games
The Nibble comes with 4 games on it: Pong, Space Invaders, Snake, and Asteroids. You can add some more games for it that have been developed by the community, such as this version of Sokoban (a block pushing puzzle game) https://github.com/snsdosen/NibbleSokoban
You can program games for it too! It can run any games programmed in C/C++, Python and CicuitBlocks (Their own graphical programming engine, similar to Scratch)
Mods
Because the Nibble is made from a ESP8266 board, it can be reprogrammed or modified. There is a lot of open-source software that you can freely access and modify.
I will be releasing a few modifications for the system here over the next couple months so stay tuned.
Customize
An easy way to make this device your own is to customize it to tailor your own style.
Some customization options can be simple changes to the case itself like stickers or custom paint jobs.
Conclusion
I thoroughly enjoyed this build. I practiced my soldering skills and will be kept busy developing games, modifications and customizations for this product. I am an online programming teacher, so contact me if you are interested in a class or tutorial to help your child assemble or program their unit. The build was straightforward and easy to do. The feeling of satisfaction from turning the console on after your soldering and having everything work…that was just fantastic!
My only issues with the kit and the whole experience were the unknown import fees, the battery container not sitting flat on my particular unit, and that I wish there was a screen cover. As soon as I gave it to my 4 yr old to try playing, there were smudges all over the screen, so I may have to try building my own screen protector. As for the battery container, I did contact Circuitmess and they responded in less than 12hrs. Talk about fast! They said that the container was fine. It doesn’t affect the performance of the unit so I’m not too worried.
Rating: Build It!
Me having fun
Stay tuned for more content on the Circuitmess Nibble!
Materials: Toilet paper rolls (at least 10), cardboard (enough for the base and roof), scissors, paint, glue stick, paint brush, ruler, pencil.
Step 1: Remove any excess toilet paper from toilet paper rolls. Don’t worry if you can’t get the last little bit off.
Step 2: Use glue gun to stick the toilet paper rolls around the outside of the piece of cardboard.
Step 3: Draw the triangular pieces that will go between your roof and your pillars.
a) Measure the width of your Parthenon. Mine is 8 inches wide.
b) Draw a line that is the same as the width (I will draw an 8 inch line). This will be the base of your triangle that will go between the pillars and the roof.
c) Draw a dot in the exact center of your line. You are going to use this dot to find the point of your triangle.
d) Draw a triangle, making sure the top of the triangle is exactly straight up from the center dot. The taller your triangle is, the taller your roof will be. You should end up with an isosceles triangle, meaning two sides are exactly the same length.
e) Create a second triangle the same size.
Step 4: Draw the rectangles that will be used as your roof.
a) You will need to make two rectangles for your roof. To figure out what size of rectangle you will need, first measure the length of your Parthenon. My Parthenon is 9 inches long. Next measure side a or b of your triangle (they should both be the same length). Side “a” of my triangle is 5 inches.
a) Draw two rectangles using these measurements.
Step 5: Cut out your roof parts
Step 6: Glue your roof together.
Step 7: Paint or color your creation however you want!
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