Before you spend hundreds of dollars on STEM toys that end up collecting dust, there's a critical step most parents skip: planning the actual infrastructure. In this episode, Kazuki Tanaka—who has built twelve dedicated home STEM labs across three states—walks through the power, space, lighting, and compatibility requirements that determine whether your investment builds real skills or just creates clutter. Whether you're setting up a screen-free coding corner for a preschooler or a full computational thinking lab for a ten-year-old, these age-specific checklists will save you from the most common (and expensive) setup mistakes.

• For ages 3–6, stick with battery-operated devices using standard AA or AAA batteries rather than proprietary button cells—you'll spend less on replacements and avoid the extension cord tangles that derail ea ...