Wooden Model Airplane Kits
Toys for the future engineer (K’nex, etc. toys that teach about machine functions)
You know why a lot of us didn’t like school? It was simply kind of boring. For some of us, it was challenging, but for many, it’s just that the material was already old to us by the time we got to it.
If you were already reading Doctor Seuss before you ever started first grade, you were probably ready for a little something more by that point. Some of us got lucky and were maybe skipped ahead a grade or two, while others simply had to settle for being the bored smart kid in the class.
When you’re young, you tend to latch on to certain things, and it’s important that your parents nurture that interest (even if it does result in boredom at school). For example, when a kid who’s always been playing around with legos toys, K’nex and other mechanical toys starts learning about simple and complex machines in school, he or she is going to wind up saying “Haven’t I already been over this?” The wise teacher will administer some slightly advanced curriculum to the child.
Being way ahead of the class, again, while it can make school a little dull, winds up being very important later in life. It’s always the kid who found grade school dull who winds up being accepted to an elite academy for future engineers.
If you want to facilitate your future-engineering-genius’s creativity and grasp of the material, the good news is that you have quite a lot of options. The better toymakers out there craft their products with an understanding of the way a child’s brain functions. Kids don’t think they’re training for a career in designing new ways to harvest and cultivate food, or that they’re going to engineer an ingenious solution to fossil fuels, they’re just having fun, putting different things together and seeing what they come up with.
Legos are a no brainer. Particularly any legos toy kit full of moving parts, gears, wheels and axles. Lego’s Technic line is particularly great. Each kit is built with a certain thing in mind. One might make a real working bulldozer, another might make a race car, but if you get a few kits, you can piece the different parts together and make pretty much anything you can come up with.
Meccano is another great line of developmental toys if you want to step up from the simplicity of Technics. Meccano actually comes with a few simple tools and requires kids to put together cars, airplanes and other machines with small pieces of colour coded sheet metal, as well as nuts and bolts.
But dig this, if you want something really cool, you can go for the Haynes internal combustion engine. It only costs about sixty five bucks, which isn’t much when you consider what it is: A simulation of a real, working internal combustion engine.
Now, it doesn’t actually require gasoline or anything, it’s not a real engine, but rather, an electronic simulation of one. It’s a small model of a real four cylinder engine. It comes with spark plugs, tools, nuts and bolts, and all the instructions you’ll need to put it together. It teaches how a real engine works, and it makes all the cool sounds you expect from a real engine. It’s as close as you can get to real engineering without filling your living room with carbon monoxide!
About the Author
Yogee.com.au is a leading Australian online toy store. Visit yogee.com.au for a wide selection of Kids Toys at discounted prices. To save money on your next purchase, please visit Toys.
|
|
RoomMates RMK1132SCS Transportation Peel & Stick Wall Decals $8.85 … |
|
|
Black & Decker BDL190S BullsEye Auto-Leveling Interior Line Laser / Stud Sensor Combination Tool $40.00 The easy-to-read LCD makes identifying studs simple and quick. The BullsEye makes leveling a snap. About This BullsEye Laser Level No more squinting at tiny vials or holding your breath while you wait for the bubbles to settle — with the BullsEye laser, perfectly aligned pictures, shelves, and more are right at your fingertips. With Black & Decker’s patented auto-leveling technology, Bul… |
|
|
Paul K Guillow 55 Jetstream Balsa Wood Glider Plane $2.87 A 13 1 4” wing span motorplane that flies hand launched or R.O.G. colorfully printed wing, canopy, and tail surfaces. Formed wire landing gear, plastic propeller, and nose bearing. Ideal contest flyer…. |
|
|
Melissa & Doug Wooden Jet Plane – DYO $7.01 With the Melissa and Doug Decorate-Your-Own Wooden Jet Plane Model Kit, children can create a plane that is truly all theirs! Each set includes durable wood pieces. Simply attach the axles, wheels, and wings to the plane to begin decorating. Paints, stickers, craft glue, and a paint brush are included to personalize every single plane! The Decorate-Your-Own Plane is great for playtime or display!… |
|
|
Rubber Powered Model Airplanes: The Basic Handbook: Designing/Building/Flying $14.90 This comprehensive manual covers rubber powered model airplanes from the simplest beginner’s trainer through gradually more complex designs including winning scale and duration fliers. Even if you have never built a model before, the simple line drawings and detailed photos will give you the tools and teach you the techniques that will result in light, sturdy model airplanes that will surprise and… |
|
|
Rubber Band Powered Flying Machines (Klutz S.) $4.95 With the instructions in the Klutz Rubber Band Powered Flying Machines book, you can build the 3 included model planes, fly them like a pro, and experiment to discover how they work. You’ll get 3 easy to build, fun to fly balsa wood planes, tips on how to adjust and fly the planes, the basic science of flight, and games to play with your planes!… |
