Math, Science, Design, and Repair

I've been taking an extended weekend to spend time with my parents and
grandmother who are visiting from up north. Most conversations revolve
around what we will see or saw in our day. But some of the most
rewarding conversations are with my dad talking about mechanical things.
My dad has the world's best mechanical intuition and can fix about
anything or understand why something works the way it does or why it is
likely to break. I inherited a smidgen of this and its helpful as a
teacher of engineering design. So I have some basis for making the
pending parenting advice.
It is true that young Americans are quite gadget-savvy yet many are not
pursuing an occupation in high tech areas. - that is to say, fewer US
students are majoring in engineering. If you read that paranoia too in
The World is Flat and would like to foster some DaVinci or Eintein in
your child here's some blatant advice.
Lots of math and science activities are important in budding engineers,
but so are design and repair activities. Design is tough - it's
expensive. When I was young I drew a lot - a great way to exercise
one's design skills - crafts, cooking, playing music all feed into a
drive to want to make stuff - which is one glamourous aspect of
engineering. But something that's easier and can be very satisfying is
repair. Helping a child repair a toy is an experience they are not
likely to forget.
Kids break toys all the time, many are in fact designed to fail. I don't
care how much you chastise them about being careful and conscientious,
but one time see if the toy has the following properties.
a) it doesn't plug in
b) it is primarily held together by screws (you do own a screwdriver,
right?)
c) has failed/broken in a non-obvious way. Meaning something inside is
broken - not on the surface.
This toy is a perfect opportunity to do repair. That sounds boring, but
the reward is that the child gets the toy again in (possibly) complete
working order, and they earned it!
Now guide them through taking the thing apart. Careful with the screws -
you collect them, don't penalize the sloppiness - they have a delicate
momentum now that should be fostered. Ask leading questions, "What do
you think we'll find inside?" "what do you think this thing component
does?" Mention that engineering designers created the toy - made all the
decisions about how long, how wide, what color? Present these mythical
beasts as happy elves that love their job and making children happy.-
well don't make them too magical - but don't make them about to be a
bunch of mean businessmen in 3-piece suits either.
The good thing about many electromechanical devices is that when they
break we can really see what went wrong. The material cracked, a spring
jumped off of a post, etc. Finding what's broke may take some patience
and persistence. If something is complicated you can be boggled by the
complexity, but the more you look at it the simpler it gets. Asks what
should the toy do, why is it not doing it now... this may help both of
you find the problem.
In the end, I give you a 40% chance of fixing it. Oh well, you tried.
You can try again. The repairing exercise will build mechanical
intuition even if the toy doesn't go together again. Also that
intimidation factor you both feel will diminish. There's no magic in
technology just a lot of time and cooperation. Repair is maybe not as
glamorous as design but it's still important in a lot of industries and
cheaper and easier as a learning exercise.