John Adams Hot Wires

This kit/game is an absolute winner. We bought it three years ago for my son (then aged 7) and he still plays with it from time to time. It describes itself as a 'Plug and Play Electronic Set', suitable for aged 8 and up. It is priced about 37 pounds. The easiest way to describe the contents is an electrical meccano set. There is a large assembly work station - a large piece of plastic with penny sized holes in it. There are then a large range of components, including switches, fuses, connectors, motor units, lamps, transistors - too many for me to list. The clever thing is that they are all numbered and following the ...  Read the complete review

In a world where the news reports that children play too many video games and watch too much television, I tend to agree, though I do succumb to the virtues of the electronic world myself. What is missing today, is toys that the kids can interact with, so when a John Adams Hot Wires set landed on my desk, it felt like my Christmas had come early. The John Adams Hot Wires set is a big bumper sized box, so straight away, if this was under your Christmas tree this year for your son (or daughter), they will be blown away by the size and exciting design on the box. Delving inside reveals an awesome electronics set, consisting of a base board and stacks of ...  Read the complete review

My husband is an electrical engineer, and it looks as though my eldest son (10) is following in his footsteps. One day we discovered him sat in his bedroom surrounded by wires, crocodile clips, batteries and bulbs after raiding his Dads toolbox. I had to admire his enthusiasm, but whilst I didn't mind him experimenting with things that were relatively simple, when he came down asking for screwdriver so that he could take his stereo apart, I had to draw the line! I mentioned the above episode to a friend, and she told me about Hotwires. I had not heard of them, but a quick internet search pointed me in the direction of The Entertainer toy shop. I'm sure that ...  Read the complete review

Hot Wires by John Adams was something that I bought on a whim for my seven year old daughter as I thought that she may enjoy it,after reading various reviews on Amazon I took the plunge and now nearly two years later we are still reaping the rewards. It is an electronic snap together circuit making kit,which contains a plastic base board and components such as lamp holders,sirens,switches,capacitors and resistors and fuses. It needs four AA batteries these are configured in two holders and are not both needed all the time. We have since bought spare bulbs and fuses as they are designed to blow to protect its components these are easily ...  Read the complete review