HOW-TO: Build a cardboard spaceship

Boing Boing posted a set of instructions for building a cardboard rocketship playhouse from out of washer-dryer boxes.

via Boing Boing

Thomas Edison on inventing

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”

- Thomas Edison

HOW TO - Make a simple pulley

The Canada Science and Technology Museum has a page on Simple Machines (Pulleys and Gears) which includes:

• Background information on simple machines in a FAQ format
• A lesson plan, which you can use to guide your homeschooler or unschooler
• Instructions on making a simple pulley (shown at the right)

Keep an eye out for simple machines everywhere (the world is your school), like in the playground.

The site also links to some relevant sites on simple machines:

• The Franklin Institute - Simple Machines
• Work is Simple with Simple Machines
• The Simple Machines Learning Site

via Yes, They Are All Mine

Child’s Inventor’s Kit

Someone posted a list of things to include in a child’s “Inventor’s Box”, for ages 5 to 10-ish, perfect for unschooling, homeschooling, or a gift:

• Felt
• poster board
• pvc pipes with connector corners
• hammer
• nails
• small saw
• paint brushes
• paint
• rope
• connector ties large
• large plastic (heavy gauge)
• two way sticky tape
• pop sickle sticks (large size)
• old pieces of carpet for the “floor/floor board”
• nuts, bolts, screws, washers
• tool box: tape measure, screw drivers, plyers,
• ruler
• markers
• pencil
• drawing paper (maybe graph paper)
• tool belt
• 2×2s
• pieces of plywood but to various sizes
• clothes pins, pipe cleaners, clips, clamps), springs, hinges
• wire, wire snips, plastic tubing, pulleys
• casters
• propellers
• pipe cleaners
• some little motors from the craft store
• styrofoam for boats
• clamps and glue
• Tweezers, safety glasses, magnifying glass, tape measure, hole punch
• Consumables: plastic or paper cups, empty and washed drink
• bottles/cartons, foil, wax paper
• zipties
• erector set odds and ends
• little springs (From the hardware store)
• notebook for idea drawings
• knobs and dials
• cardboard? Empty toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, boxes, etc.
• Rubber bands? Scissors? String/wires?
• pieces of craft wood
• cotton balls
• duct tape / scotch tape / glue
• bottle caps
• wine corks

via Unschooling Resources Yahoo! Group

If you can think of anything else to add, please let me know in the comments.