Sixty years ago this month, the June 1961 issue of Radio Electronics posed the question, “how can I prepare my child for today’s electronic world?” The answer was shown on the cover. A kit such as this would not make a child an electronic genius overnight, but it would let the parent find out of the child had an interest in and aptitude for electronics.

Shown here is the Heathkit Electronic Workshop model SK-50, and the magazine reviewed a number of similar kits. This one allowed the young radio fan to build 19 different electronic projects, simply by wiring the components together according to the instructions. The magazine article doesn’t state the price, but the kit was still in Heath’s 1966 catalog for $19.95.

I sometime hear it lamented that these kits are no longer available, but that’s not true. First of all, from the picture above, it would be possible to recreate the kit shown above simply by looking at the picture. But if you want to buy a similar set for Junior, then one of the Elenco Snap Circuit kits shown below fits the bill: