When my family received Pitsco's catapult and trebuchet kit free in exchange for my review, all five of my kids were really excited. Five?! Did I have another baby? No, in this case the 5th kid is my husband. Here was a review he could really sink his teeth into!
Pitsco has an amazing array of products in the area of STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) technology. Through the building of everything from rockets to planes to race cars, teachers can expose their children to engineering in a dynamic and fun way. For homeschoolers, the opportunities are irresistible: build a rocket with your kid and have it count as science *and* math? Yes, please!
For this review, we received the materials and instructions necessary to build a catapult and a trebuchet. Although my children were thrilled with the project, my husband ended up doing most of the actual work. *He* was extremely impressed with the thoroughness of the instructions and the way that complex principles of physics were explained so that children could understand them. The kids just loved building a catapult! They were, however, able to explain to me how it worked, so some of the lesson stayed with them past the excitement of hurling small pieces of paper.
The component pieces of Pitsco's trebuchet and catapult kit are very well-made. Everything you need to complete the project is included, with the exception of Krazy Glue. My husband actually found that Gorilla Glue worked better for this particular project. The instructions are very complete, and everything you need to make a lesson out of the project is included. I cannot speak highly enough about this company. In fact, the following pictures are from their website. I would hate for the product to be judged on my pictures!
The only thing I would note is that the kit, while actually quite small, came packaged in a huge box. There was a ton of extra cardboard and paper. I don't know if, in fact, it is necessary to package these kits in so much material in order to protect them. It did not seem so to me.
After building one project from Pitsco, I would have no hesitation in ordering more. While the projects seem expensive on the face of them, it is very important to realize how much material they actually cover. The instruction books are more like small textbooks, and you can easily stretch even the smallest project over several days. The kit that we received retails for $21.95. I'm definitely coming back to Pitsco!
If you're interested in finding out more about Pitsco, be sure to visit both their website and the Crew blog.
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