Winterfest Educational Toys
I took my family to Winterfest this past weekend in our little
community north of Toronto, Canada. Science North, a science
museum had an interactive workshop, we had to go.
It was a good thing no one told the kids these were educational
toys, it may have quieted the shouting, laughter and
astonishment. The amazing science kits ranged from building
bridges to exploding candy. The kids had to push aside the
parents to get their turn playing with some awesome science toys.
What I notice when kids play with science toys is the
enthusiasm, the team work, the competitiveness that exudes.
These aren't just educational toys, these are life lessons. And
the level of parent participation and encouragement was heart
warming.
Kids used K'Nex to build bridges and towers, then used steel
weights to test the strength of their engineering creations in
both bending and compression. These educational toys were
demonstrating engineering principles that university students
study, and these kids were aged 5 to 12.
Next up was Magic Mud. This non Newtonian fluid swirled like a
liquid in the bowl, but turned to solid rubber when you punched
it. What really proved the value of this educational toy is when
one boy said it was just like quick sand.
The kids had the opportunity to make huge bubbles, launch air
rockets and learn about rocks and mining.
The biggest bang of the science toys was when the instructor
heated up potassium chlorate then through in a candy as we
watched the fireworks. Who knew you could make educational toys
with a Pez dispenser to show how your body's metabolism works.
Many of these concepts can be experienced and studied in the
hundreds of educational toys, science toys and science kits at
Brain Waves Toys.