Ladybird Tuesday: Levers, Pulleys and Engines

I've blogged before about my love of Ladybird series 621 (Junior Science) and Ladybird Tuesday has already featured Magnets, Bulbs and Batteries and Light, Mirrors and Lenses from that series. I'm on a mission to try and collect the whole series, both the originals and the updated versions from the 1980s, and I was therefore delighted when my sister picked me up a copy of Levers, Pulleys and Engines.

This book is a perfect introduction to so many aspects of physics and tries to align them with things that are familiar to children. There are also some lovely little experiments that children can do at home with some simple household objects. 

The truth is that not much has changed at all from when this book was first published in 1963 and all the things it tries to teach us are very much still valid today. 

My late father worked in the field of gears and I would love to have known what he thought about the section in the book all about "cog-wheels" although I'm guessing that he would have a bit of a problem with the use of the word "cog" when I believe "gear" would technically be correct. 

There are quite a few things in this book that I can clearly remember doing with my Dad when I was younger. Some may be a bit beyond Little Miss C at the moment, but I've also got some ideas for how to adapt a few of them to make them more suitable for her. She gets very excited about doing experiments and I'm really keen to encourage her. I'm yet to get my head around how science is taught in primary schools, but I figure that if she's keen to do experiments at home then that can only be a good thing!

After something that Aly from Plus 2.4 said recently about blogging about making the crafts in old Blue Peter annuals it's got me thinking about my Ladybird collection. Several books (like these Junior Science ones) contain experiments, but there are also loads with craft ideas or other projects on them. I'm planning a few changes on Being Mrs C in the new year and I'm hoping that making more of my Ladybird collection is going to be part of these changes. Watch this space…

If you have a collection of old Ladybird books then please feel free to join in with Ladybird Tuesday. There are no formal rules to follow, just leave a link to any post you write in the comments below and if you're feeling kind link back to my Ladybird Tuesday category here on Being Mrs C. Thanks!