Hydraulic Claw

I liked how it really did have everything you needed. Something like this would be perfect to take on a vacation. As a parent I also felt that I understood hydraulics for the first time in my life! Way cool!

I love the open ended nature of this crate....that you create a basic hydraulic setup and can do so much with it. We've received three tinker crates, and this is by far our favorite...it left so much room for creativity, which greAtly enhanced my child's understanding of the concept.

He had a blast with this project. We did have to reinforce the arm so it didn't fall over (two syringes on one side and one on the other made it wobbly), but he figured out how to do that (even a guy wire!) all on his own. Everyone was really impressed with the quality of the project, and it was very striking when finished.

The ease at which our kids could understand how hydraulics worked because of interaction with the kit. They loved working with the plungers. We added food coloring to each plunger so they could see which line worked which part.

The crate comes with several ideas for hydraulics set-ups. Plus, my boys were able to do it all on their own without my help which means no waiting for me to have the time and they are thrilled to dig right in and do it all!

My daughter (age 12) found it engaging and she was able to take it to a much farther level than even the instructions dictated. It really got her thinking and experimenting!