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Art Cars
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In this activity, learners design miniature cars. Learners can create a telephone car, soccer car, merry-go-round car, or any other theme car they can imagine.

Puppet Play
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In this activity, learners will make a marionette puppet and put on a show. Learners will explore color, design, fabrication and storytelling through this activity.

Let's Make Music
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In this activity, learners will create their own percussion instrument with recycled materials. Learners will explore design, fabrication, cause and effect and sound through this activity.

Cup Draw
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In this activity, learners construct drawing machines using a cup, some markers, and a cricket to control the movement. A programmed LEGO RCX or Cricket is required for this high-tech version.

Push Pull Painter
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In this activity, learners create painting machines that can paint moving forwards and backwards.

Crank It Up
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In this engineering activity, learners explore simple machines and then build cardboard automata using cams.

Motion Picture
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During this hands-on activity, learners are briefly exposed to moviemaking and animation, when they create their own thaumatropes.

Boomerang
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Learners trace, cut out and fly a boomerang, outdoors or in a large indoor space.

Hang Time
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Learn how to make and fly a paper helicopter! This simple activity includes a template (for the copter "blades") and instructions for folding, flying, and testing designs.

Thaumatrope Illusion
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Design and create an optical illusion toy that makes two pictures appear to become one. This is called a thaumatrope and will allow the learner to investigate the phenomenon of persistence of vision.

Matraca
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In this activity, learners create a traditional Mexican noisemaker (a matraca) using cardboard, craft sticks, and a wooden dowel.

Pinball Wizard
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In this hands-on engineering project, kids use two simple machines, levers and inclined planes, to construct their own pinball machines.

Set It Straight
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In this activity, learners build a simple tabletop seesaw to test how different variables (the position of the fulcrum, distance, weight) affect its balance under increasing weight loads.

Micro Automata
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In this activity, learners build small animated toys that move.

Action Figure
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In this project, students explore how levers work, by making a puppet with moving limbs.

Cranking Bird
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In this activity, learners build a mini crank machine to make a bird "fly." This engineering activity introduces learners to automata, rotational motion, cranks and cams.

Go Fly a Kite
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In this hands-on activity, children create their own kites that can fly indoors. Learners are exposed to basic concepts of gravity and air resistance.

Cardboard Automata
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Cardboard Automata are a playful way to explore simple machine elements while creating a mechanical sculpture.

Bearings for Your Whirligig
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Experiment with friction and make bearings for a whirligig! This activity is a nice introduction to friction and bearings and demonstrates why bearings are useful for spinning.

Jumpy Dolls
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In this activity, learners are challenged to design and construct a jointed figure that moves in a motion (something like jumping jacks) when a string is pulled.