In Jon Haugsand writes:

* Norman D. Crow
Grandsons had a ball with stuff like this when I got them an electric hobby
kit from Radio Shack a few years back. Lots of neat learning stuff,
including simple motor similar to this.

The problem with such kits is that it is "bought magic" and impressive
as it may be, it does not make the kids wonder after the show.

Depends on how pre-packaged the kit is. I'm an electrical
engineer, and when I was young my dad bought me one of the
electronic kits with a couple of transistors, resistors, and
capacitors, complete with a peg-board affair where you could
assemble circuits with a type of Fahnestock clip.

I had a blast with this kit, and the components later became
my first parts stash. However, there was a contemporary kit
where the components were enclosed in lucite cubes with metal
ends and a schematic on top. The idea was to build circuits
by joining the cubes together. Somehow this kit struck me as
just Not Right. I don't think it would have held my interest
as long not being able to handle the actual components themselves.

I also had one of those little motor kits where you wound
your own armature. I have to say I think this home-made battery
bazinga tops that.

If you
just find a few items around the house and put them together, it may
very well make the kids feel that the workings of todays environment
is within their own grasp. (Or whatever it should be described.)

Certainly not for the very young, but a great book for
kitchen table experiments is the collection(s) of Amateur
Scientist articles from Scientific American magazine. One
of these articles got me building Van de Graafs as a kid.

--
Tim Mullen
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