Any ideas how to hook 5 year old girl to electronics/engineering?
CuriousOne
Posts: 931
Hello.
My 5 year old granddaughter has amazing hand coordination and reaction speed - she can play two player games for both sides simultaneously, straight lines and curves drawn by her look like printer output and other tricks. Has very intuitive thinking and gives average adult score in Bennet's test. Just for curiosity, I've gave her a pcb with soldering paste applied, tweesers and a box of 0402 SMT resistors - she placed them evenly, aligned to lines just like machine does. Of course, this is a great skill, but I don't want to see her in future as pick'n'place machine
Any idea how to develop her in engineering direction? Unlike girls of her age, she does not plays with teddy bears, barbie houses and so on. Her favorite toys are Terminator gun replica and real metal finder, but at same time, she does not gets attracted to robotics, flashing leds and similar things.
My 5 year old granddaughter has amazing hand coordination and reaction speed - she can play two player games for both sides simultaneously, straight lines and curves drawn by her look like printer output and other tricks. Has very intuitive thinking and gives average adult score in Bennet's test. Just for curiosity, I've gave her a pcb with soldering paste applied, tweesers and a box of 0402 SMT resistors - she placed them evenly, aligned to lines just like machine does. Of course, this is a great skill, but I don't want to see her in future as pick'n'place machine
Any idea how to develop her in engineering direction? Unlike girls of her age, she does not plays with teddy bears, barbie houses and so on. Her favorite toys are Terminator gun replica and real metal finder, but at same time, she does not gets attracted to robotics, flashing leds and similar things.
Comments
That sticks out like a sore thumb.
Honestly, there is programming, computers, electronics, engineering. She may find she has an affinity for one or more of those. Since she likes games, start a more technical dialog about them.
That dialog can go all over the place. When she bites on a piece, enable her to learn and do more. See where that goes.
Games can touch every one of those things. And it is a great foundation context for all sorts of interesting discussions.
Do you spend time playing them with her? You should.
There is that metal finder... Maybe she wants to know how it finds the metal? Maybe she wants a better one? There is an entry there too. Perhaps the one she has could be improved...
And the gun. Maybe she's really mechanical. All sorts of fun gun, rocket, sling... maybe even a trebuchet! ...things to do there too. That road leads to engineering, and mechanical is increasingly being touched by computers and electronics too.
The key here is to find an entry point. Might not be the one you want, but when you find it, exploit the heck out of it. You might be learning too. Great, do that. And share it. Sharing the learning, how to learn, making sure it's OK to learn... is probably the most powerful thing you can do with a kid. Many of them don't get that confidence otherwise. Those of them who do get it go places and do stuff. Many of them are right here. We all had it, or got it from somebody. Share that experience and make it play. Do that, because it is.
When I was young, I had an uncle who did this. Didn't pick up on it, until one year for Xmas, he literally sent me a box of junk! It was the BEST gift ever! He put radios, batteries, old calculators, circuits, watches, you name it in there, and some tools. The thing was maybe 30 pounds, and it consisted of everything he figured he could live without and that I wouldn't kill myself taking apart.
That worked. We started a chatter that lasted for years. Rebuilt cars, fixed engines, did all sorts of mechanical things, and that brought me a lot of skills. Games got in there for me, and it led to computers and programming and electronics. What did that uncle do? Well, I got old TV's, data books, and more "junk" and more chatter. We fixed TV's and made electronics things. He sometimes would find a cool circuit, like an oscillator. Great, we would make the thing, or later, build it on that 250 in one springs 'n wire kits I ended up with. Didn't matter. We did stuff. Cool stuff. He was the do cool stuff guy.
Be that do cool stuff guy. She will love you for it, and find out she loves doing it too.
The most interesting thing I can remember is realizing I liked things. We all do this, but we all sort of forget that process too. As the conversation meanders here and there, we bump into stuff. And when people are there to help us tease our potential out, we may find we really like things. In my case, it was a lot of things. Many of those seemed "boring" too. Like working on small engines. Fixing the lawn mower, for example. Compared to the computer, games, etc... it was just this thing that moved and burned stuff. Yawn...
But, when I got an old lawn mower, and fixed that engine, building a go cart was awesome! Also gears.
Try it like that. Just start a dialog and make sure she's comfortable taking it anywhere. You bring her stuff, she brings you stuff and you talk about it. Then just keep talking.
Will be some of the best times in your life and hers too.
One more thing, having raised girls and boys, they work a bit differently sometimes.
Not always, but mostly girls are face to face people. They want to share an experience, talk about it, do it together, and feel like something good happened and bond. That bond is shared, and frequently expressed.
Boys, not always, but mostly, are side by side people. They also what to share an experience, talk about it, do it together, and feel good about it. Bonding happens a little differently, lower key, not expressed directly.
The difference is in how you interact. Find out whether or not she's face to face or side by side, and then interact in that way so she feels comfortable. You will bond quickly and ideally, she starts initiating things when she's ready.
An example of "side by side" is something like, let's go take a walk, or do some other activity and talk. An example of "face to face" is something like, "come sit here with me, and tell me what happened, or what you are thinking."
Finally, remember she is on a path of self discovery right now. She needs a diverse set of experiences to understand who she is, and she will seek them. It's not so much about sparking her interest as it is seeing what she responds to and then exploring that. Think resonance. Once something stands out, working on it, talking about it, playing, etc... causes that thing to move and resonate in her mind and she will find that interesting or not, and then you go from there.
You want to be the person she can share that with. When we find out something about who we are, the very first thing we tend to do is express that! And then we may actualize it, or think about it, whatever makes sense. Truth is, you both can have a fine time discovering who she is. And share your stories. She will see it's all OK, and when comfortable, explore when that spark presents itself.
What a fantastic well thougth through answer!
With respect to the girl, I especially like the 'think resonance' advice. I remember half a century ago when I was that age, I did not like my dircetion of curiosity to be pushed by others, but I did like when someone had honest curious interest.
With respect to myself, I appreciate the 'face to face' vs 'side by side' perspective. I realize I am a f2f person, and I bond easily with likeminded, not so easily with the s/s people. Thanks for that insight.
Erlend
Regarding the toys, she already has trebuchet, air pumped rocket and slingshot. She generally likes toys of kind that can do some action, emit loud noises, sparkles and boom. She usually spends weekends with us and likes to talk about her achievements and ideas. I've showed her clockwork trains, mechanical clocks, etc small gears - she has no interest in them. But she liked very much the water operated rocket we've built from empty cola bottle. Tried to play some music together with her, it appears that she has no musical ear, so does not enjoys music that much from playing, but likes to sing favorite songs in loudest volume possible
As am I. We are outside the norm for boys, it seems. Well, no worries. For me, it meant making friends of all genders easy. That's been beautiful in my life, and worth the odd hassle over not complying with that typical norm. Where I grew up, those norms were somewhat rigid, and very stereotypical. Ugh... (And I made an assumption there, as that name is Nordic and common for boys. If I have it wrong, whoops! No harm intended.
Yeah, she is very visual, mechanical and kinestetic. (not sure how to spell that one, but it's the word for sensory and dynamic)
I would get her a "big ear" type parabolic mic toy. Bet she loves that thing. Soon, some R/C cars, drones and such probably will hit the sweet spot too.
Of course, TETRIS makes perfect sense. She can see the fit instantly. Bet she will grow to max that game out. My wife is similar, and can just play the thing at top levels for as long as she wants. Fruit Ninja... I don't know that one. Here's a game play video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da6XNewk9yc
Ok, that makes great sense too. She's kinestic, and that game hits all the buttons. Hand / eye, action, chopping things up, shooting them. Yeah baby! Put her on a tablet, and she's likely to max that one out too. Cool beans.
I can tell you right now, she's a see it, do it, kind of kid. Building things, operating things, visualizing things all are going to appeal. Anything dynamic and real time is in her wheelhouse right now. So is exploring the world. Senses, things, impressions, feelings. What is all this stuff and what does it do? Why is it there?
All is not lost on electronics and programming. She's 5. Spend time now getting that bond. Later, she will trust you to entertain a little of that, and you will know enough to choose an entry point that makes sense. For now, it's experiences. Lots of them. 5 is pretty young. She may not yet have developed what it takes to entertain more abstract interests. Though the metal finder is abstract, kind of like "sub hunt" where one visualizes in their head a lot. And that thing is like having a new sense. Imagine being in front of a mural, but it's dark, and you have a small light, playing "Where Is Waldo?" That's very likely what she is experiencing with that thing.
Find some more of those, aural, touch, sight. A microscope and telescope would be good soon. Edit: A friend just got one of those thermal cameras for phones. It is COOL! Of course, we didn't do much work that day, walking around looking at all kinds of things. She would love that too.
Play the old "BATTLE SHIP" game with her. She may like that one too. And that one may qualify her some. If she's into the abstract, she will like it. If she isn't so interested, then you know she's really more sensory type and visual rather than abstract. Real time vs analytical. Take that idea and continue watching those experiences. You will come to understand her well.
Hey, ever want to do some things you missed out on as a kid? Do them, drag her along and play. It's good for you. Sort of like, "Hey, I've got us some time and money or means, and how about we do some stuff?"
And tell her that you never got to do it, and that it would be fun to do it now with her. It will add to the experience. Then let her pick. Continue.
Edit: And I'm being specific here, not really emphasizing any direction. She might not respond. It's discovery. The subtle thing here is all about when you are doing it right. You may find yourself with a new hobby or interest too! If so, great. Remember, that bond you form goes both ways. Enjoy.
Your granddaughter must be a gear-head so she may have no interest in electronics at all.
Try getting her a Snap Circuits set and start with Digital Logic first.
Digital circuits are a lot easy to visualize and understand than Analog.
Today we live in a Mechatronics world where you find mechanical systems controlled by a computer or microcontroller using electronic sensors and actuators.
Kitchen appliances, CD/DVD/Blue-Ray players, computers, printers, digital cameras (with moving lenses), cars, and robots are all mechatronic.
Electric toothbrushes and razors are mechatronic.
You can see what a mechanical system does but electronics and computers are much more difficult to understand.
Start with digital electronics which computers are based.
Something such as an R/C car or airplane might get her interest, but she might enjoy playing with a Juke-Bot.
I just taught my Friday English class to two 6 year old Taiwanese boys that are definitely into games. Asking them about likes and dislikes is a regular communications task, but ever so revealing.
Do you like dinosaurs? Yes.
Do you like dominoes (the game)? Yes
Do you like cards (we play Fish)? Yes
Do you like songs? Yes.
Do you like music? Yes.
Do you like piano? No.
I strongly suspect that their dislike of piano is gained from talking to other boys. Nobody wants to get stuck in hours of piano practice. The want to play. If I were to make piano a fun playtime experience, I am sure they would like it as well.
Everything here is about presentation. Kids just got to have fun.
It is up to the adult to make electronics and engineering fun. Presentation is everything.
Today's class ended with the two boys intensely puzzling over a snap together plastic toy of Japanese origin. They will puzzle for hours over anything that helps them visualize and discover assembly relationships.
The Engineer is strong in this one.
But electronics may not necessarily be her calling. At least not yet.
Let her get her fingers dirty!
Take apart an engine together, maybe?
Or...
Put together an electric car for her.
(Or go whole hog, check out scaled-tanks.com for inspiration and get her a Sherman... with a cutie mark... )
Electric cars will have simple circuits, which should be a good start to teach her the fundamentals, and might be a good indicator as to whether or not she has any interest that way.
LOL!
You make good points. Electronics can seem more abstract and less approachable, initially, than mechanics.
For me it always started with a burning desire to achieve some objective, and then learn whatever I had to learn to get there. (Sometimes that burning desire was to burn something.
He has more interest in pulling things apart and seeing how they work and what's inside.
Last week my mother's calculator died. So I gave that to him to pull apart. Many hours of enjoyment was had by him.
Yesterday we pulled apart an empty laser cartridge. We have washed it out, and next visit we will re-assemble the parts. There isn't much in it, but a number of cogs and the two rollers.
However, their interest is short term. So break any long times into a number of shorter ones. You are trying to pique their interest.
My two sons and daughter all grew up with computers and electronics around them. We had a running garage size mini computer at home.
All three topped their class at high school in electronics, and all worked in our electronics assembly plant. However, only my eldest son went into electronics. Second son went in to electrical then into management. My daughter went into teaching.
By all means! Send her to California for the summer and I'll turn her loose on the Corvair, an officially recognized mechanical aptitude test.
I recall some very non-abstract electronics firing my curiosity when I was very young, perhaps not even electronics but physics, just very simple experiments:
Round about the age of four or five someone showed me how a 6v bulb attached to a battery would light up. I remember being fascinated by that. Soon I was screwing lots of bulb holders to bits of wood to make odd light displays. That's when I noticed that lamps in series were not so bright any more. Hmmm...need more batteries. I had no idea why I had this problem and I don't recall making the leap to parallel wiring of the lamps, but that was a lesson.
We had sparks, melting wires, electric shocks, zapped tongues. Those visceral experiences cut through abstractions quickly!
Later seeing a coil of wire could move iron objects was very immediate and physical, whilst at the same time being extremely magical, weird and fascinating. Again no idea how or why that worked but it puts the questions in your mind.
Later was the intercom. A microphone, a length of two core cable, a set of head phones and a battery wired in series. My friend shouts at the mike and I hear him in the phones. Wow. (N.B. Only accidentally worked so easily because we had a carbon mike from a telephone)
Later, light dependent resistors changing the current reading on a meter. Cool. (A good old moving coil meter removes abstractions in such experiments. No multi-meters please)
Later...An LED connected one way lights up. Connected the other way does not. OK..what's going on here?
What am I saying in this ramble down memory lane? Perhaps that electronics is physics and basic physics experiments with electricity (and magnets) give a concrete and stimulating (some times literally!) experience.
These things can appear very weird and spooky and fire the curiosity. And they are fun. Or at least were for me. Further understanding and abstraction get layered on top of that later on.
Many years later, I found myself helping a company negotiate the contract to dig the largest foundation hole in many years in San Francisco. We were awarded excavation of the Moscone Center Expansion and had to go down about 16 feet in a rectange of 525 feet by 500 feet. I guess there is a relationship between the two. There is actually quite a bit of money to be made in moving dirt.
It was only later... after I had gotten my first set of screwdrivers, that I began to be really interested in electricty. My dad hated the screwdrivers as I had managed to fool with every doorknob in the house. But eventually, I rewired the basement for more lighting, built a darkroom with plumbing, and repaired the washing machine and dryer without a repair manual (They used to put a schematic on the back of the machine, right?).... none of which my dad knew or cared to do (He was an MD.)
I learned a lot, but most of all I learned that parents have the patience of saints. Moms will let a boy explore a lot (like driving across the old Donner Summit to Lake Tahoe in a blizzard on a Learner's Permit at 15 1/2 -- likely to be consider child abuse these days).
Somewhere along the way, I learned to visualize, plan, and execute projects to completion. It really doesn't matter what the projects are, but being able to do those things and sustain interest over a longer period of time will pay off in the adult real world. I am not so sure that learning microcontrollers will be a big plus in 20 years.
Showed them Scratch. They wanted to make a game so I helped them a bit. One wanted to become a programmer.
Showed them some Parallax stuff. Blew their mind.
Just throw everything you have at her and see what sticks. Buy some old radio at a garage sale, give her a screwdriver, and set her loose.
On the other hand, getting the most out of a few items can really enhance their intellectual abilities. I start the kids in English class out with a deck of cards and a box of dominoes as they do learn rules, numbers, patterns, and to socialize acceptibly -- no computer games as they either fight over the computer or isolate into their own computer.
Parents are quite please as they immediate are using numbers, asking questions and listening for answers -- not just parroting English phrases. And they learn how to win via observation.
What I am trying to say is there is a teacher involved with lesson plans and goals of developing social skills as well as intellect and aptitude. You can't just buy stuff and expect the child to DIY their own education -- gentle guidance and mentoring are very important and need to exist in the background of discovery.
As far as introducing to microcontroller, I start out with electric motors rather than blinking lights. Disassembly of one old DC motor is a delightful introduction to electricity. Unwinding the coils on the rotors ends up surprising them with how much wire is really inside these tiny devices and how fragile they might be to abuse. Plus, they discover the magnets inside and learn the relationship between electricty and magnetism. Mechanics and Electronics work well together; but without some commitment to maths, you are never going to get into serious engineering.
Playing card games and dominoes get kids interested in maths and lead to later interest in probablilties. Sure, I start out with the silly and rather violent games -- such as Fish, War, and Crazy 8s. But eventually move on to Casino, Cribbage, Gin, Rummy, Canasta, and more. I avoid Poker and Blackjack as the kids tend to either ignore the gambling and learn very little about winning, or they get too greedy about winning. The whole point is to learn to be a winner through powers of observation. Checkers, Chess, and Five-in-a-Row are good board games. Monopoly just takes too long for regular classes. Scrabble is not good for second language learners, but great for families of native English speaker.
I've already tried various games with leds, etc - "oh, it lighted up, that's great, now let's go and saw something using bandsaw"
Take a look at this free, kids oriented physics "construction set" game
http://www.algodoo.com/
What is it?
With simple functionality you can draw and interact with physical systems on your computer. Build and explore by click and drag, tilt and shake. Use colors, graphs, forces, etc. for enhanced visualization.
And in a different area, here's a nice simple animation / drawing program :
http://www.abcya.com/animate.htm
https://www.circuitlogix.com/circuitlogix-3DLab.php
3DLab is a simple-to-use, yet very powerful simulation software product that closely replicates a fully functioning electrical/electronics laboratory in a realistic 3D environment. This 3D simulation software is a "virtual reality"-type of lab that combines an interactive 3-dimensional learning environment and "real world" e
As for music, you might look for "kids music games".
Does she have the Minecraft game ?
If not, It has a "tone block", and "redstone electricity / logic circuits".
Kids have built working virtual CPU's in Minecraft ! (Check youtube or the Minecraft forums).
Mike
Parents took her to music classes and while teacher said that her singing career is least likely to happen, due to absence of musical ear, she has very nice fingers and she might be became a great piano player. She personally does not enjoys piano playing at all, just liked lessons, since got praised here and increased attention to her. As she said, she wants to be either a policeman, fireman or a soldier
Tom
Does your Granddaughter have her own tool box, with some tools? small hammer, screwdrivers, coping saw, hand saw, pliers, hot glue gun, etc...
If not, I suggest you get her one.
There is nothing like OWNING your own tools, and being able to use them.
It is one thing to use Grandpa's tools, it is an entirely different thing to use your own tools.
Then I would take her to a craft store (or dollar store), and turn her loose in the section were they have the little wood parts and kits you can build. Don't forget some paint and paint brushes.
Ask her what she would like to build: a bird house, wooden toy car, ray gun, a sculpture, etc... help her pick out the materials she needs to build the thing she wants to create.
Have her draw a picture of what she wants to build before you go to the store.
Try giving her a construction set that uses nuts & bolts. (They used to be called erector sets or mechano sets. That way she gets to use tools, makes something that does something, and most have motors & electronics that can be added. It is a way of getting to robots through her mechanical interests, rather than through electronics. Also encourage her to add her own stuff to the "official" projects in the instructions. (Add a thin plywood floor or platform; make and add some wooden or plastic levers or arms that can be a crane, make some Rube Goldberg types of things, etc.)
When I was VERY young I was given a 'Moto-Trix' set (Like meccano) which included a motor and gears and cuttable chain drive. I made up a little 4 wheeled vehicle using motor and gears, but it would not move when power was applied. Baffled I took it to an engineer friend of my parents. He smiled, and sat me down and started talking about mechanical advantage, velocity ratios etc and simply rearranged the gears to gear the motor to gear ratios down, instead of the way I had done it, and lo and behold it worked beautifully. At that point a light clicked on in my head and I dare say changed my perception of engineering and science and motivated me to want to do more.
Years later (early teens) my parents bought me a crystal set. I wired it up using some enamelled copper wire I took off a coil from an old valve radio, made up an aerial by stringing some wire (the same stuff) across the garden, but it didn't work. There was an elderly guy who dressed a bit 'scruffily' and shuffled around, but was always happy to help doing odd jobs for people. Well he took an interest and came around with a big heavy soldering iron, some plummers flux and solder. He scraped off the enamel insulation from the wire and heated the iron on a gas stove and soldered everything up.
It worked!
Two events that altered the course of my life.
Feed you childs interest and watch them blossom - but be warned - it may not be the same as yours!!!!
Dave
http://www.realconstructiontoys.com
Oh, and sorry about the cheesy video on the site...
Honestly, that is very solid assembly skill at that age. Will be fun to watch grow up.
Find an old broken wind-up alarm clock. Have her take out one screw and put it back together again. Then two screws, etc. Stop when it starts working, or when too many parts are lost.
Doing this is what got me started. Results can vary; my kid had to take a break as soon as the housing was removed, its been in the box ever since.
Yours sounds like she might like the little screws and gears.
She does not likes spending so much time on such activities, generally, she gives 10-15 minutes per activity, except movies, theatre and cartoons. But what she does, does furiously fast, say she assembles average letter sheet size jigsaw puzzle, which she never seen before, nor looked at hint picture at all under 2 minutes.