Train Bridge - Finale! - Boys & Girls Club - Mission Clubhouse

ALL ABOARD!!! 

The Bay Area's newest train is ready to leave the station for the first time!

"All aboard!" This phrase also holds the magic that we strive to conjure at Tinkering School. When kids collaborate together on projects they direct, the result is that they are indeed very much "on board" for the journey. Over the last several weeks, this hardworking and passionate crew exemplified the best of tinkering: collaboration, creativity/problem solving, learning from mistakes and overcoming challenges, and through the process they managed to create something way bigger than one person could build on their own! 

Before the kids could finally ride their train though, there were a few last minute jobs to complete...

We saw so many great examples of collaboration in the final push to complete the train cars and bridge!  

The kids also discovered the law of diminishing returns also applies to tinkering. At a certain point there isn't enough space for drills let alone another tinkerer!

THE DOORS ARE CLOSING...

FIND YOUR SEAT... 

THE SF - MARIN TRAIN IS LEAVING THE STATION!

Our train's high tech propulsion mechanism involved a rope and several tinkerers pulling.

This simple yet effective strategy worked so well that we decided to also use it as our braking mechanism. While some of our crew were eager to test the physics of a runway train, we decided brakes would probably be a good idea for our first few trips.

After a successful test run with an adult collaborator, the train was opened to all our young tinkerers. Check out our video below to see the action!

The satisfaction 0f knowing you can build an epic bridge and train = priceless :-)

Thanks for a great tinkering time Mission Clubhouse! We look forward to collaborating with you again soon!