Sparking Curiosity Through Engineering and Play
Purdue University’s 2025 Engineering Gift Guide, released November 10, 2025, celebrates the power of play to inspire the next generation of innovators. This year’s edition showcases 10 microelectronics-themed gifts designed to help children and teens explore how tiny technologies drive big discoveries.
In collaboration with SCALE K-12 and the GM Foundation, Purdue’s annual guide highlights creative tools that invite young learners to build circuits, program robots, and experiment with coding, all while discovering how microelectronics shape the world around them.
Now in its 12th year, the Engineering Gift Guide has helped millions of families find meaningful, hands-on presents that encourage curiosity, problem-solving, and confidence in STEM. Past editions have featured a wide range of toys, games, and books that connect engineering to everyday life. In 2025, the focus narrows to microelectronics, the science of designing and producing the small but mighty electronic components that power modern devices.
Produced by Purdue’s INSPIRE Research Institute for Pre-College Engineering, part of the School of Engineering Education (ENE), the guide reflects INSPIRE’s mission to make engineering accessible to all learners and integrate it across science, math, and language arts.
A Research Team led by ENE faculty, staff and students evaluated each gift across three microelectronics-related themes:
- Circuitry
- Robotics
- Coding & Programming
Explore the 2025 selections below and discover how play can spark a lifelong passion for engineering.
