Today was the big day. I had been talking about it for a week. My husband finally agreed I could, and so we dragged the big CD player out of the garage so we could take it apart. I have wanted to take something apart with the kids for a while but couldn't figure out what. All of our appliances seemed to be in working order, but after a quick look around the garage I noticed the CD player. It had a 3 disc changer and two tape decks but the CD part was broken and only one tape deck worked. It was in our house when we moved in and we never had gotten rid of it. Perfect!
The fun part was teaching Birdy how to use all the tools. We've used hammers and nails before, and had even used a wrench, but this was our first time with a drill! After a while she was drunk with power! She worked and worked, using her drill to unscrew all the screws she could find until we finally had taken all the sides and the top off.
Once we got inside she spent some time admiring all the inner workings. She found two quarters, she rubbed the circuit board and used her wire cutters to snip all the wires she could find.
That was when big sister decided to join us. She became immediately interested in the project and how to best extract a chip which had been attached to the circuit board. We each pulled out our favorite parts. Mine was a row of tiny light bulbs. Birdy's was the bowl full of screws. My friend Cristina who had joined us found a cool tiny roll of copper wire. We each glued our favorite pieces on to a piece of card board.
This activity took up most of the morning and the funny part was that each child delighted in a different part. Birdy liked the initial unscrewing of the case. Ivy liked demolishing the circuit boards. Bug spent a great deal of time examining the gears and pulleys used to open the CD tray. Right when one child would start to get board, the next would find something exciting. I loved having them all involved in the same activity. And honestly, Cristina and I had as much fun if not more.
I bet they really did enjoy it. There's some kind of magic in real tools and real objects. Toys just can't substitute. And so much to learn about how things work!
ReplyDeleteThis really looks like a lot of fun! I pinned it.
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of fun. When I was a little girl, my parents bought me and my brother a real tool box with real tools. I never forget how much fun it was to get out that hammer and saw and make something.
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