My kids got a lot of great learning toys this Christmas. None of them are your traditional “learning” toy though. One of their educational toys is one kids have been playing with since I was a kid. The toy is not traditionally thought of as educational, but while I watched him play with his new toy, I realized he was exploring Newton’s First Law of Motion!
A Fun way to Teach Newton’s First Law of Motion
Newton’s laws of motion. The phrase can conjure up all sorts of unpleasant high school physics class flashbacks. The first law states that every object will stay still, or remain moving in a straight line, until the object is acted on by an external force. In college, my professors explained this concept through the use of complicated calculus equations, and convoluted examples. Then my study group would spend our time together trying to really understand what the professor was talking about.
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First, he sets the car into motion by changing potential energy into kinetic energy.
Then the car hits a rubber band net, and reverses direction. Then BAM! The car hits a plate propelled by spring energy, and it changes direction again!
I turned to my older son (whose also playing with his brother’s toy now), and asked him, “What would happen to the car if the net wasn’t there?”
Son: It would keep moving off the track.
Me: Right! But what does the net do?
Son: Make the car start going backwards.
Me: Right. It changes the car’s direction. And what does the bulldozer do?
Son: Makes the car move forward again.
Me: Right! And if the bulldozer wasn’t there? Where would the car go?
Son: Backwards, off the track
Me: Right. The bulldozer changes the car’s direction again. So in other words, the car moves in a straight line until the net or bulldozer force the car to change it’s direction.
Son: Cool!
And that’s how my 3 year old explored, and I taught my oldest son about Newton’s First Law of Motion! If only my physics teachers had used this toy to teach about Newton’s laws of motion. It would have saved me (and them) a lot of frustration!
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How do you teach your kids about math and science? Are you looking for other toys to help your children learn through play? Read some of my other posts about my sons’ toys!
An Explosive View of a Dinosaur
Toys that Teach Engineering
Tinker Crate: Circuits and Optics
11 Engineering Toys for Girls!
Tinker Crate: Exploring Polymers
Law of Inertia Experiment using a Fidget Spinner!
Center of Mass Fidget Spinner Experiment
Physics for kids with Beyblades
Making Snow at Home when its Hot Outside
What a nice way to explain a complex law. My daughter loves doing activity like these.
http://www.learn2livefully.com
Thanks! Its amazing how many kids toys use simple physics principles!
What an excellent teaching lesson. I really appreythe videos along with it
Thank you!
Good video
Next step is to give him enough construction toys to build one of those rude goldberg contraptions.
Lol! Right! We had a whole team in college that would compete with their Rube Goldberg machine. I bet my kid could do as good as them (I may be overselling him a little…) 😉
What a fun way to learn! My son would love this, he’s a little young to understand yet, but he’d certainly appreciate the fun!
#RV&HT
Thanks for stopping by!
Just playing with toy will help him understand the concept later!
Oh what a fab way to teach a rather mundane and tricky topic. The joys of homeschooling eh, you get to be as inventive and creative as like. What a fab lesson. Thanks for joining us at #familyfun
Thank you!
I’m a long way off teaching science directly but I actively let my son play and I suppose learn through touch and things. I’d love to do more home schooling play with my son he’s 19 months and is like a sponge. I’ll put some thoughts together!! Thank you for linking up to the #familyfunlinky