AT AMAZON, it’s the holiday toy list. I ordered my six-year-old nephew the Snap Circuits SC-750 electronic project kit. I’ve ordered him the junior versions in the past, but he seems to be such a prodigy that this year I’m taking him up to the big version.

UPDATE: Science fiction writer Sarah Hoyt (author of Darkship Thieves) emails:

On the snap-circuits toy — not only did my younger son love it, but shortly after we moved to this house (when he was eight) we had a power outage and couldn’t find our battery radio to figure out what was going on and if there was any real danger/need to evacuate. The kid assembled us a “radio” in minutes. Okay, you had to put your finger on it and serve as a living antenna to hear it, but it served its purpose. So, it’s a toy AND disaster preparedness equipment. :)

Great story, and I’ll bet he’ll remember that he did that for the rest of his life.