When I was in cub scouts we had this play we put on. It was a space play. And my Dad helped me build a spaceship control panel. It was mainly light switches. But it was cool, and I remember being upstaged by the prop during the show.
Last weekend I took Megan to a kids museum in Oakland and they had a spaceship there filled with old computer parts. Even though the stuff was clearly labeled as EEPROM burners she enjoyed flipping the switches and playing with the keyboards and joysticks. Her imagination went wild.
I figured that I would build her something like that for, well, sometime. But Megan's birthday is Saturday. So there is an opportunity there. Marty told me that he had access to some spare parts. And Dru turned me on to the Weird Stuff Warehouse. I went there yesterday, looked around, picked up some stuff, then talked to the store manager about what I was doing and he gave me the load for $20. I think he liked the whole "Dad making play art for his kid" type deal.
Last night I really scored at Radio Shack. I got some switches for cheap, and I experimented a little with a 9 volt battery and, wouldn't you know, they light up when you switch them on. Yes! This is going to rock. Two of the switches are of the "safety variety" so you have to flip up a piece of plastic before you can flip the switch, which then glows red. Mmmm... I'll use Lori's label maker to put "ARM SRB 1" and "ARM SRB 2" on the side of those. ;-)
This is going to be cool. I know Geeg will love it. She has such an amazing imagination. She can turn two straws into a prince and princess and have a whole conversation going between the two. I can't wait to see what her and the other kids do with their spaceship.
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