The Children’s Museum in Holyoke, Massachusetts is creating future gearheads with an awesome new exhibit designed to teach kids about cars. It’s called the Automotive TECHnician Center and it not only teaches young kids about cars, it allows them to get hands-on with a real car, see how it works, and even learn how to fix it. Fortunately, the museum doesn’t teach them about the horrors of spending weeks trying to figure out the cooling issue of an E36 3 Series, otherwise, it might scare them off.
To help teach kids about cars, a used Ford Fiesta was donated by a local dealership, Marcotte Ford, which was then modified for educational purposes. With the old Fiesta, kids can learn how the car works, how to diagnose problems, play with the radio, and even change tires. Naturally, the wheels and tires look like they’re from a toy wagon, as the real Fiesta’s would be too heavy for kids. But it still helps them learn when, why, and how to change a tire and makes it fun.
Car enthusiasm isn’t the only thing this exhibit might spark in young minds. The passion for technology, engineering, and even design can be found by climbing into the car and exploring it.
“Hands-on stuff is great for a lot, there are a lot of kids who have to sit in a classroom all the time,” said Natalie Colón, an electrical trade student at Dean Technical High School in Holyoke. “I think having something hands-on and a place where you can experience what being in a trade is like will definitely open the kids’ eyes up to trade schools.”
The Automotive TECHnician Center is also the museum’s first-ever fully bilingual exhibit, including all of the signage and puzzles, expanding its reach to even more soon-to-be car enthusiasts.
I still remember seeing a C5 Corvette sitting outside of the pizza place as a kid. As I gawked at the yellow sports car, the likes of which I’d only ever seen in Gran Turismo, the owner walked out and let me sit in the driver’s seat. Sitting behind the wheel of something so cool helped spark the passion I have for cars today. While the museum’s green Ford Fiesta is no C5 Corvette, it’s still giving kids the chance to sit in a car, explore it on their own terms, and learn about how it works will help create future gearheads like you and me.
Got tips? Send ’em to tips@thedrive.com