Kids Take-it-Apart Table

We plan to have a volunteer supervised Kids Take-it-Apart Table at each of our Repair Cafe events. The table will be stocked with small screwdrivers and donated items considered to be beyond repair (VCRs, cassette recorders, portable radios, printers, and cameras are considered good examples), and offer children an opportunity to "see what's inside " and learn while they play. Putting things back together again is not required!

We're always looking for new items for children to take apart, including:

• LCD projectors (there's a great array of optics in older projectors

• Overhead projectors (convex and fresnel lenses)

• Personal cassette players or tape decks (small motors, tape heads, switches)

• Analog or digital cameras (lenses, mechanical shutters, servos)

• Portable radios (digital and analog tuners, dials, and speakers)

• Remote-control toys (wheels, morots, servos, radio sets)

• Wind-up toys (gears, springs)

• Scanners and all-in-one printers (motors, gears, proximity sensors, light bars)

• Mechanical or electronic scales (springs, LEDs, rack-and-pinion gears, strain gauge sensors)

• Analog desk phones (speaker, microphone, mechanical dial, number pad, buttons)

• VCRs (motors, video heads)

• Audio speakers (speakers, magnets)

• Sewing machines (motors, gears, wheels, switches, springs)

• Mechanical typewriters (springs, gears, letter keys)

• Kitchen countertop appliances (mechanical parts, electromagnetic motors)

NB - The following items are not recommended for a Kids Take-it-Apart Table: cell phones, computers, monitors, tube/CRT/flat panel TVs.

This list was first put together by Jim Harper.