VARTA Summer Challenge #6 Create an Electric Motor

This summer to help keep us busy and stop those cries of ‘I’m bored’ VARTA have set a series of Creative Summer Challenges. L and I have been having a blast completing them and learning something new, so it is my pleasure to share them with you.

#PoweringtheMoment

VARTA Creative Summer Challenge #6 – Create an Electric Motor

So here we are with our final challenge for the summer. It was actually the third challenge posed to us but with a four year old it was the most difficult and I’ll be honest L didn’t really get involved with the build.

This is the only challenge VARTA set which need some real kit, in fact it needed an amazing Electric Motor Generator kit that came with everything you needed to create several fascinating experiments at home including building your own motor. All we needed to add were some batteries, for some experiments, screwdriver and tape.

Making a motor is actually really simple as it all based on magnets, by getting them to alternate the polarities so that they push and pull against each other in turn, forcing them to spin. This actually then generates power and can light an LED, no batteries required, you are generating your own power.

So although over a few evenings I built the generator without L it sparked some great conversations, about all kinds of motors and magnets and creating power.

We’ve gone back to the kit and done some of the simpler projects together, finding true north with a compass, moving iron shavings with a magnet, watching the push and pull of the magnets with his wooden train set.

It’s odd that the one challenge we didn’t really do together potentially sparked the most questions and I think he learnt the most from it.

If you’ve got older kids this will literally be your last week of summer holidays filled, it’s a great kit and an amazing way to spend time together learning and having fun. I really feel like I’ve learnt a lot too.

This was a surprisingly brilliant challenge from VARTA that opened up so many more questions and experiments and was just really, really enjoyable.