Make Electives Easy with a Homeschool STEM Kit

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this review or post, but all opinions are our own.

STEM studies, tech tools and engineering skills are all the rage in education circles. This is great news for homeschoolers. That means a bigger market for hands on teaching tools like homeschool STEM kits that kids can really use. We received the Fischertechnik Profi Hydraulic with Engineer kit from Timberdoodle to play with and build some serious hydraulic machines.

Start With Curiosity

Our curiosity for hydraulic kits started with a youtube video we saw a few years back. It showed a homeschool STEM kit build of a model human hand made out of cardboard and syringes to create hydraulic pistons that would move the individual fingers. It was pretty cool. Since we had syringes in our science workstation we gave it a try. A lot of wet cardboard later, we weren’t a lot closer to understanding hydraulic power, but we knew it could be fun to learn about it.

The Fischertechnik Kit combines the ease to build like a mega Lego kit and the ability to power your creations as well. This STEM Kit comes with instructions to build 5 models with three different “engine” set ups.

A few great things about this as a homeschool STEM kit…

• They were created as prototypes for engineering companies to work out the bugs in actual factory installations.

• Highly regarded by engineers because the models mimic the real life application for training in the industry.

• The unique block design has the ability to add parts on all six sides. These kits are expandable and can be used in conjunction with any other kit to expand and explore new creative builds.

• The good kind of challenge. 

Great for a Child Wanting a Challenge

This kit is rated for children 9+ and I would say that is accurate. My 14 year old daughter worked on this model. I was surprised how determined she was to finish once she got started. She had never been interested in block type kits before, so it was a fun new project to see her work out.

The instructions were clear and easy to follow. The parts were also shown to scale in the booklet to make it easier to identify them, but it was still at least four hours in total to build the excavator. As a parent that is a good project. It would easily be a week of “class” time and then time to animate the build and look deeper into hydraulic systems, engines and you still have four other models to build. That makes it worth the dollars invested to me.

Making Homeschool Choices Easier

The Fischertechnik Profi Hydraulic with Engineer Kit Included in Timberdoodle’s 2020 Eighth-Grade Curriculum Kit and Nonreligious 2020 Eighth-Grade Curriculum Kit. I love curriculum homeschool kits. We were very frugal homeschoolers when we first began sixteen years ago. I priced out everything and there is no way I could get all of the components cheaper than I could if I got everything in a kit from Timberdoodle. The all-in-one kits are a great value with time tested components.

I have been ordering from them way back before we officially started homeschooling. I often used the Timberdoodle catalog for my Christmas shopping. For years, we had a strict NO toy policy with our extended family. Firstly, because we want less clutter, and also because we wanted to choose high quality learning tools. With ten kids you can get overwhelmed with stuff pretty fast. I don’t regret it one bit. STEM Kits like these are a great gift to put on the grandparent list and both of you can get what you want at the same time. 

Don’t Forget the Electives…and Fun

I know the expense can cause you to put off a homeschool STEM kit like this as an “extra” and that is why I encourage you to create a mini course out of it. You don’t have to know about hydraulics before you start. There are tons of youtube videos to help you and your child get more creative too. The best part of homeschooling is all of the things we have learned together. Who knows, maybe you have a secret engineer living in you.