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We have a circuitry bench (designed for children 10 and under) that we designed and fabricated a few years ago. We are in the process of developing a similar circuit component for a new exhibit and are trying to improve upon it.

Currently we have a series of electrical blocks that have a disk at each end that are magnetic.  In the current blocks, there are both north and south magnetic poles in each end. The problem is that sometimes you need to adjust all of the pieces slightly in order for the norths to meet all of the souths exactly -- something that can be difficult and frustrating with those with little hands to do. We are thinking about recreating the pieces so that one side of the magnet is only north and the other only south and label each piece as such (and create signage explaining why north to south).

We are also playing with the idea of creating different blocks that interlock like a puzzle, rather than touch. The benefit of this is that we get around having to talk about the whole magnetic thing, something that might be confusing when talking about electricity.

I've seen other variations of this, like what is in the Cookbooks. Because we have very young children in this area, we'd prefer not to have wires and other small loose parts. What other variations are out there?

I posted a photo of our current bench (with a few of the blocks in a circuit) at:
http://steppingstonesmuseum.org/public/circuitbench.jpg

Many thanks,
Sheri


Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill
Director of Exhibit Design
Stepping Stones Museum for Children
Mathews Park, 303 West Avenue
Norwalk, CT 06850
203 899 0606 ext. 234

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