Sum of Their Parts

This activity is a great way to find out what your child knows about nuts, bolts, and a host of other common "building blocks."

Sum of Their Parts

Required:

Your time only

Here's a nuts-and-bolts activity that you and your child are sure to enjoy. It's also a great way of finding out what your child knows about nuts, bolts, and a host of other common "building blocks."

With your child, select an item in your household (such as the telephone, a train set, or a radio) that's especially intriguing. Your child examines the object closely (and, with your supervision, safely), paying particular attention to the nitty-gritty details.

After five minutes or so, see whether your child can list all of the parts that go into the item (you and your child can look up any parts you don't know the names of in an encyclopedia or another reference book). Your child then tells how the items works (again, refer to reference books if you get stuck) and finally, explains how to fix the object if it breaks. Say, where do you think we might find a replacement button for our touch-tone telephone—it's had a broken "9" for weeks, and we really ought to repair it!