Karen
Something different from all the Interplay products we’ve reviewed so far, the Make an Electric Dragster kit was a new challenge for us.
Aimed at children aged eight and over, this was something I thought maybe
Louis and his dad could spend time putting together and trying out. What actually happened was that I ended up doing it on my own because Louis lost interest. He’s just turned eight and isn’t a big fan of construction based activity. To be honest he isn’t a fan of any activity that isn’t football, but I was hoping to capture his interest with this because it looked very cool to me.
We set out all the parts and read the instructions, then we put the car together a bit wrong and had to go back a step, then Louis ditched me. Undeterred I carried on with the kit myself and found that actually, it was quite therapeutic to make something like this. The instructions are easy to follow so long as you read them properly, the parts aren’t too fiddly at Al and the whole process takes less than an hour. After that you’ve got yourself a battery operated car built from scratch in your own lounge.
I think this is a great gift for kids who enjoy making things, for car fanatics or budding little mechanics or engineers. I’d say that just turned eight is perhaps a tad too young, though if I had sat down on my own with the instructions before involving Louis I might have been able to cut out some of the faffing I did and hold his attention a bit longer.
Interplay price this at £9.99 which seems very reasonable. Once it’s put together the dragster runs on regular batteries so has a great lifespan if looked after. It’s pretty nippy too once it gets going – the boys soon flocked back in when they heard me test driving it!
Make an Electric Dragster is part of the Interplay Technokit range and is available at various retailers, though the best price I found was on Amazon for £6.99 .
