Among the activities for children while school is cancelled is making things.
My favourite remains Meccano, the metal construction set. It takes thinking and patience – good things to teach children, as you have to follow instructions of plan your design to fit together, you can’t just snap more parts on. Larger sets include gears and motors, one even has hydraulic actuators using water.
Still in stores, some Canadian Tire stores have sets left. Timeless Toys in Oak Bay and Broadmead may have Meccano Junior, which has much larger bolts and nuts so swallowing them is much more difficult. (So younger children can play with Meccano and younger siblings are not at risk.)
Serious robotic Meccano sets are available for older children, I don’t know where to buy them other than Amazon.
Keith Sketchley
Saanich
