A Mini-Windmill Experiment

The kids and I recently checked out the Green Science Windmill Generator toy from KoboldToys.com. We like educational, sciency-type toys, and I like the kids to learn how to make mechanical things. This was an OK toy. It’s receommended for children ages 8 and up. My 12-year old found the instructions just a little complex.

He’s pretty mechanical (he has a few electronic generator gadgets around the house) so I was surprised that he was a little puzzled. Then again, he was recovering form a cold, so maybe his mind was tired.

My 16-year old joined in on the action and they attempted the project together.

Even though the directions are a little complex, I thought they were put together well. And they are a lot like the “adult” kind of directions I get for my home improvement projects. I like exposing the kids to such things. The paper included in the box explained about energy generation, which was great.

They had the windmill up within about 15 minutes.

The Green Science Windmill Generator is a small kit that you put together. It’s supposed to be a “green” kind of energy– wind spins the fan blades which creates a small bit of energy to run a tiny LED light. You use a recycled plastic bottle to hold the fan mechanism together.

Overall, it was OK. The fan was stiff and didn’t spin with any kind of natural breeze– we had to turn on our box fan to get it to go. The LED did light up. It’s a great toy for showing your child how things work, and to introduce him to science and energy. It’s a great “side” project, but not a very good main project. I recommend this toy for children between the ages of 10 (with an adult) to 15. It sells for $12 to $15, which is a bit pricey for what you get. But it would make a good hands-on project for showing your kid the science behind energy generation. And because you recycle a plastic bottle, it makes it “green.”