Battery Powered Kids: Mini Submarine Motor
December 12, 2011, By Andy Hinds 0 comments
As part of our "Battery Powered Kids" series, I've been working on a number of little toy projects, using these electric hobby motors from Tamiya. There are quite a few variations of them available to suit different applications, but essentially what you get in the package is an electric motor and the drivetrain to transfer power from the motor to whatever wheels or legs or propellers animate your project.
These kits have an educational bent to them, as you're required to assemble all the gears, shafts, motor housings and make the electrical connections. Many of them offer a number of gear ratios to choose from, which require you to assemble the gearboxes in different configurations according to your needs.
My twin girls are only two-and-a-half years old, so these details are lost on them; but since their brains are thirsty little sponges, they can't help but pick up some basic mechanical understanding, to my great delight.
One of the kits I picked up was the Mini Submarine Motor. In fact, I bought two. My kids are obsessed with all things aquatic, and I knew I could find uses for both of them. Because we live in San Diego, we see all manner of seafaring craft, from aircraft carriers to yachts to boogie boards, just about every time we leave the house. When I showed the motors to the girls and explained that they were going to make a boat go, they were full of suggestions:
"Daddy make a surfboard?!"
"Daddy make a pirate ship?!"
"Daddy make a ducky?!"
NEXT: The Rubber Ducky
