In Sitka where I live there is an event for kids that takes place usually once a Saturday every month during the winter. It is for kids in Kindergarten, first and second grade and on march 31st there will be a “Super Saturday” on trains. I have volunteered to help with a small layout for the kids to see. I plan on setting up an HO layout with Unitrack (an oval with a couple siding and industries to switch.
The problem I’m having is I will be talking with up to 14-18 kids for 16-20 min at a time. I have very little idea about how to talk with them without talking way over their head. I do plan on passing one of my Athearn cars and one of my N scale cars around so the kids can look at them and touch them. I realize with the train going in circles it will be very hard to keep their interest talking to them.
So any hints on exactly what to say?
We have several areas planned for them to go to. There are usually 8 stations the kids get to visit over the course of the morning. They will get to build a small wooden steam engine that each of them get to take home, make some life size track in the hall all made out of wood, get a talk on RR safety (even though we don’t have a railroad in Sitka), eat some cake in a mock dining car and I will have my layout and talk about model trains.
We are also looking for three more ideas on stations. I suggested to the person who is putting this on to contact Athearn and see if we could get some blue boxes for the kids to build but I haven’t found anything else out about it. I also think she talked to Kalmbach about getting some MR mags to hand out but I don’t know where that stands either.
We have a limit of 120 kids.
So I’m looking for advise on how to talk to little one in a way that makes sense.
I’m also looking for advise on 3 other train related stations for kids to see/do.
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Lucas,
sounds interesting. My dad and I taught at the local senor center to people who wantedto come and learn about MR. Luckily it was older people I mean mostly Lionel people and we are in HO scale.
We wanted it where it was a beginners course but seemed to get the older crowed. But had a younger person in it to. IN 3 day 2 hour classes My dad and I gave a small presentation during the first one. We talked about the basics of MR from Benchwork to scale kids understand more than we think they do. After that we started scenery on a Diorama that took up the last 2 classes.
For you this maybe a smaller diorama get the kids use to scenery material?, maybe see if you can get a color the caboose or locomotive sheets. Maybe try creating a game. just some ideas.
Hello Lucas.
Speak from the heart… Tell the kids about railroad history and the hard work it took for our ancestors to drill and blast through mountains with explosives, lay track across snake and insect infested swamps, fight off indian attacks and endure terrible weather and living conditions. Tell them how if it weren’t for the railroads, some cities and towns would have never existed because without them the population in the east would have had no other way to expand out into the west except by wagon train. Tell them how trains have evolved from the tiny little wood burning steam locomotives of the mid 1800s into the powerful high horsepower diesel burning monsters they are today. Tell them about the harsh conditions of the first passenger trains that had no heat or airconditioning, and how the toilets flushed right out onto the tracks, but that how things have greatly improved over the years up to today’s modern luxury trains. Explain to them how important the railroads still are to us today by hauling goods and freight from city to city for much less than what big 18 wheeler trucks or airplanes can. Finally, tell them how model railroading is a recreation of what trains and their environments were like in certain periods in history, and that it’s not just a hobby but rather a form of art like no other… Last but not least, tell them about trains.com, and that we’re always here for them if they have any questions.
I hope this helps. Good luck to you.
Tracklayer
Those kids are going to want to drive a train I betcha.
If you have a computer with a suitable projector you could load a Railroad Simulator from Microsoft or a simple Trainz game into it pre-set for a scenario where the kids get to drive a train with all the noise and clatter.
You could download and present the Troop Train Video from WW2 on our Archives which will work out to about 10 minutes long, not heavy on tech babble and has enough “Action” to fire the kids about trains going to war. (Sorry, no shooting) you might get a few giggles on the Sleepers or soldier play time.
That will give the kids something to get into if they are going to be held captive for 20 minutes.
Create a game for the kids… I recall seeing (And participating in… SIGH) drag racing involving 12 volt electric trains at a show. First loco to the end of the track wins. (I lost because I was late off the line on the “Go”)
Hi Lucas,
K-2 kid’s attention span is a little limited, but you might try having them make small HO scale trees (to place in predrilled holes on your model railroad layout) I use furnace filter fiber spray painted with hunters,or camouflage green. I cut to filter fiber into small irregular shapes, and then push them onto the multi-brances of twigs. Another idea is to use “reindeer moss” that simulates leafless trees. Have them break off small pieces, to shove the tree trunks into predrilled holes. Another idea is to have HO scales automobiles and trucks, that the kids can push along roadways, and obey the intersection and RR crossing rules. You could have horn and whistle, etc. sound locomotives, and operating signals that simulate “real trains”! To add variation to the scene, you might have a light dimmer switch for overhead lighting and lights in houses,(for sunset and night operation). A sequential “transition” slideshow, showing the progessive phases of model railroad building, will keep their attention. Good luck, Bob
First off contact all the local model railroading clubs to ask for old mags, they will just give them to you and you can give them to the kids. Second see if you can borrow a timesaver portable layout, our local nmra branch out here has one and it will teach the kids some even if it is run by an adult.
Well hello Lucas,
I was born and raised in Sitka. I now live in Eagle River. What you are doing is very cool. Like you mentioned… not having a real RR in the area makes it hard, though many of the mines around the Sitka area had mining cars/track (possibly even a steam engine). That might be something you want to research/mention.
I will put more thought on the subject and will reply later… gotta get back to work.
Peter
Doesn’t Model Railroader still have the youth modelers? Check with them and ask for their advice.
Another good resource is the NMRA. Kids that age are web savy, so you can give them a weblink on something the size of a business card. Most computers can print up simple business cards, and with the right paper stock, the thing you hand out looks like one. Start here:
http://www.nmra.org/beginner/
Plus you may want to read through it and possibly print out some pages to take with you.