Kevin Kelly at Cool Tools gave a thumb's up to MAKE magazine's Ultimate Kit Guide.
Here is a fantastic collection of 175 of the best kits available today. Each one selected, tested, and reviewed by the folks at Make magazine. Each kit is rated on five criteria.
Kits offer many of the benefits (fun, thriftiness, satisfaction, personalization) of making something yourself while removing many of the hurdles. A kit relieves you of sourcing all the parts (only a mildly creative task), insures compatibility of ingredients, and increases the likelihood you'll finish it and that the project will work. These are no small advantages, and worth the small extra expense of a kit — which may still be less than buying a similar product. This kind of directed assistance is perfect for kids, giving them confidence they can eventually build things without kits.
