Don85D
Member
We are on the same page as I have tinkered for many decades in my workshop and now I am training grandkids (teens) in the safe use of mill, lathe, welder, band saw so that they too can tinker. I bought them an Arduino starter kit to get them programming robotics so I know the value of letting creative minds expand when they have the skills and tools to make things. Together we tackle any broken item as a project and hopefully that self-confidence will stick with them along with the tool collection that each have started.
My concern was young children being given a souped up EV toy car that might be beyond their ability to control. The quality of the parts being used also could be a safety risk so my advice was to leave the toy car as is. It suits smaller children best given the plastic body panels and crude steering. Building an EV car for them that is Go Kart sized makes more sense to me and our neighbour's boy has done that with my help and his Dad's experience. We welded a frame and steering and they run it on Li-ion drill batteries.
Our grandkids are now big enough to drive a car so I take them to an empty school parking lot on weekends to learn the controls and to practise parking. It's the next step in the journey that started with a plastic 12V toy Jeep.
I know adults who enjoy RC model car racing and that's the world where the sky is the limit for go fast mods. That hobby seems more suited to the list that you have presented, in my opinion, except for counter steering which is a motorcycle attribute to induce lean. The grandkids ride with me on my bike. They wear the right gear and know the feeling but they are not strong enough yet to control it. That can wait until they express an interest as the danger is real.
Enough said on this topic. You are aware of safety for your kids and that's what is most important. I trust that you will always do the right thing in that regard and not make them test pilots where things can break.
Take care and thanks for taking the time to respond to my concern.
My concern was young children being given a souped up EV toy car that might be beyond their ability to control. The quality of the parts being used also could be a safety risk so my advice was to leave the toy car as is. It suits smaller children best given the plastic body panels and crude steering. Building an EV car for them that is Go Kart sized makes more sense to me and our neighbour's boy has done that with my help and his Dad's experience. We welded a frame and steering and they run it on Li-ion drill batteries.
Our grandkids are now big enough to drive a car so I take them to an empty school parking lot on weekends to learn the controls and to practise parking. It's the next step in the journey that started with a plastic 12V toy Jeep.
I know adults who enjoy RC model car racing and that's the world where the sky is the limit for go fast mods. That hobby seems more suited to the list that you have presented, in my opinion, except for counter steering which is a motorcycle attribute to induce lean. The grandkids ride with me on my bike. They wear the right gear and know the feeling but they are not strong enough yet to control it. That can wait until they express an interest as the danger is real.
Enough said on this topic. You are aware of safety for your kids and that's what is most important. I trust that you will always do the right thing in that regard and not make them test pilots where things can break.
Take care and thanks for taking the time to respond to my concern.
