Kids

Interesting site for kids 5-15. Just stumbled upon it so haven't had a chance to really explore it. Here's an excerpt from the site.

Howtoons are one-page cartoons showing 5-to-15 year-old kids "How To" build things. Each illustrated episode is a stand-alone fun adventure accessible to all, including the pre-literate. Our Howtoons are designed to encourage children to be active participants in discovering the world through Play-that-Matters -- fun, creative, and inventive -- and to rely a lot less on mass-consumable entertainment.

Enjoy

You've probably seen these Airzookas around. It basically is an airgun that shoots a vortex of air up to 20 feet away. Add some smoke, and you can shoot smoke rings which is pretty cool. Instead of dropping $20 on one, here's a site that shows you how to make your own.

Here are two very cool paper airplanes. The first is self-described as The Best Paper Airplane in the World. It's a cool looking airplane, but more interesting is it's flight characteristics. The author describes it as flying more like a balsa wood plane, rather than a paper plane. The second makes its way to us via Boing Boing. Called The Flapper, this one is interesting because it actually flaps its wings while flying.

Very basic instructions on how to create a very simple mini levitating (maglev) train. A fairly simple project that would also be fun for the kids.