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Three Mechanical Puzzles
The Faucet, the Lock and the Lawn mower engine

The kids in my summer class loved to take apart a VCR, record players or typewriters, but I didn't want them to come away with the idea that you only took things apart. I began looking for simple mechanical devices kids could take apart, see how they worked, and then put back together. Then the obvious occurred to me: how alike puzzles and mechanical things are. Many people like puzzles but are intimidated by machinery. I had never liked puzzles, yet I liked to work on machinery. Ironic. Weren't they really similar? Why not use real mechanical objects as puzzles to expose kids to simple machinery? Maybe then they would be less intimidated by leaky faucets and machinery when they were older. Their puzzle knowledge could have practical applications.

The Faucet
At the hardware store I choose an eight piece brass gate valve, or faucet, about 8" tall. Kids like the feel and size of it. Smaller faucets don't have the same attraction. They like to turn the handle and watch the gate inside the faucet open and close. I took this faucet apart and traced each piece, in the order it came apart, on a piece of felt. The activity was for children to take the faucet apart, match the pieces to the proper shapes on the felt and then put it back together. After they could reassemble the faucet using the felt, I had them put the felt away and try again still arranging the pieces in order as they came apart. This is a good lesson when taking anything apart: arrange the parts in order as they come apart. After kids can assemble the facet without the felt I'll sometimes challenged them to mix the pieces up and try again. If they need help they can always go back to the felt.

The most interesting reaction to the faucet puzzle, however, came from a teacher. I had volunteered to take my puzzle collection, some folk toys, and some science equipment to a friends classroom. I spread everything out and let the kids choose their own work. The faucet was on one table and the teacher asked what you did with it. First I showed how the gate opens when the handle is turned and then I told her it was to take apart and put together. So she did. She was excited and exclaimed to the kids around her "look at this, see how it works!" She was lost in the mechanics of a faucet. The principal came in. Julie, the teacher, said, "Rob come over here and see this." Rob had other things on his mind and wasn't really interested but Julie

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