I was called in to help out at my son's cub scout den meeting and had the most brilliant idea--right up there with squeezable ketchup bottles and indoor plumbing. I called a bunch of friends and collected toasters, computers, DVD players, telephones, answering machines, anything electronic or mechanical (that didn't contain toxins or dangerous parts of course) and brought them for the boys to take apart.They all said it was the best den meeting they'd ever had and it was the beginning of my own Junk Bin. Anything that breaks goes into the banker's box in the garage where the boys have a ready set of screw drivers, hammers and pliers and dismantle or reassemble to their hearts' delight.
It's made me very popular but has a downside . . . we've had some Unexplained Appliance Deaths of a suspicious nature (sabotage? I haven't been able to prove anything yet) so all I can say is: watch your toasters and good junking.
Check in with Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday for other good tips.
Technorati tags: WFMW, motherhood, electronics, children
5 comments:
Great idea -- guys love taking things apart to see how they work.
I love this. Can't wait to introduce it to the little guy.
My little boys love this and now having 11 and 12 year olds, I can
say that it definitely does teach them things!
My boys are the first that I call when I need the vacuum or sewing machine repaired.
I think that the last item that I
"junked" to them was an old iron.
I couldn't believe how many little pieces were inside of that thing...the boys loved it!
I never thought about turning it into a cub scout meeting! I bet that they loved that!
Blessings!
Tracy
My husband took apart his first computer at age 8. It took him a few months, but he put the thing back together and made it work again
I fear my sons are following.
They would worship you if you had them do this activity.
What an awesome idea! I have a container where UFO (unidentified/unclaimed found objects) go and sometimes we recycle them onto picture frames and such. I have 2 boys in Scouts and so excited to try the appliance idea! Thanks!
~Eve
(http://eve1.wordpress.com)
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