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Kids' computers through the ages

Teaching tools and electronic toys aimed at young consumers

  • Wolverine Adding Machine (1941)
  • Edmund C. Berkeley Geniac (1955)
  • E.S.R. Digi-Comp I (1963)
  • Science Fair Digital Computer Kit (1977)
  • Mattel Children's Discovery System (1981)
  • Sears Talking Computron (1986)
  • More computers of the 1980s
  • VTech Precomputer 1000 (1988)
  • VTech I.Q. Unlimited Computer (1989)
  • VTech Super Color Whiz (1994)
  • Tiger Learning Computer (1997)
  • LeapFrog ClickStart: My First Computer (2007)
  • The Barbie-isation of kids' computers
  • Kidz Delight Datamax ii (2009?)
  • Play
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  • Backward
  • Forward

Wolverine Adding Machine (1941)

In the 1930s and '40s, the closest that consumers could get to a mainstream commercial computer was a mechanical adding machine. Accordingly, Wolverine Supply Company of Pittsburgh created this early tin toy adding machine that could sum numbers up to 9999.

Photo: Computer History Museum

The slides that illustrate more than a dozen computers aimed directly at kids and depict how they evolved through the ages. These toys mirrored changes in technology over the decades, progressing from primitive mechanical devices to full-fledged electronic PCs. From the 1980s on, they often won their way into parents' hearts by providing educational instruction in basic subjects such as reading, writing and arithmetic.

Space constraints forced us to leave plenty out, so when you're done reading, feel free to share your memories of educational computers in the comments below.

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