Elenco is celebrating a trio of milestones this year.
The Illinois-based company behind the Snap Circuits line of building toys is planning a year of activations to celebrate 50 years of learning fun, 20 years of its flagship brand, and a trio of Toy of the Year (TOTY) Award nominations. Elenco was started in 1972 in the basement of founder Gil Cecchin, an electrical engineer that built the company by supplying circuit kits to educators as an early pioneer in the STEM market.
“The Elenco Team is looking forward to our year-long celebration,” says Elenco President Jim Cecchin. “My father — Elenco’s founder — would be so proud to see this company continue to pioneer in the development and evolution of STEM education.”
This year, Elenco will host monthly Snap Circuits giveaways on its social media channels alongside additional partnerships and collaborations that will be revealed in the months ahead. This spring, the company plans to relaunch its popular Snap Circuits Junior (SC-100) set, widely considered to be the line’s cornerstone offering. The set includes all the pieces that kids need to complete more than 100 potential products, spanning the basics of electronics and circuitry, including AM radios, burglar alarms, doorbells, and more.
“The Junior is Elenco’s most popular and best-selling Snap Circuits kit ever,” says Linda Kramer, vice president of marketing at Elenco. “It has certainly stood the test of time and has set the standard for STEM toys within the industry.”
Three of Elenco’s products are nominated for TOTYs this year, including Snap Circuits MyHome in the Construction Toy category; Snap Circuits Discover Coding in the Specialty Toy category; and the Smartivity Pinball Machine in the STEAM category.
