Makey-Makey
Makey Makey Invention Kit

Mattel faced a huge backlash recently for a passage in its Barbie book, “I Can Be A Computer Engineer,” which implied that girls can’t code. So you already know what not to get the young geek on your list this holiday season. But what should you buy to inspire a future engineer? The tech product design firm Artefact has come up with a great list to help answer that question.

robotgirl
Robot Girl Lottie Doll

Artefact’s “Holiday Gift Guide for Little Makers” consists of eleven products, many of them under $100, that help kids develop a variety of skills, including spatial reasoning, geometry, introductory circuits, the fundamentals of programming, and more.

Examples include the Makey Makey Invention Kit, Magna Tiles magnetic building toys, the Roominate Dollhouse Making Kit, the Bare Conductive Touch Board Inventors Kit, and a product that could be considered the anti-Barbie, the Robot Girl Lottie Doll, with a body based on the average proportions of a 9-year-old girl.

Check out Artefact’s full gift guide, with commentary on each product.

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