Saturday, May 10, 2025

Are you ready to put your mechanic hats on?! Join us as we jump into the trades with an auto technician and build a hydraulic lift–just like you see at your local auto shop!

Time

Ages 7-12: 8 am PT • 9 am MT • 10 am CT • 11 am ET • 12 pm AT
Ages 13-17: 10 am PT • 11 am MT • 12 pm CT • 1 pm ET • 2 pm AT

Materials and Preparation

Participants who registered before March 30th will receive a free supplies kit in the mail that contains most of the required supplies for the activity. Participants who did not register by March 30th can refer to the list of additional supplies and the list of supplies included in the free kits and purchase all of the supplies independently.

Additional REQUIRED materials not included in the free kit:

• A corrugated cardboard box
• 2 straws
• Masking tape 
• Something to poke holes (Skewer can be used, screwdriver, thumb tack, etc)
• Scissors
• Ruler or measuring tape
• Writing utensil (marker recommended)

Materials included in FREE KIT*:

• Tube (Outer diameter 0.5 cm, inner diameter 0.4 cm) not too rigid (length ~15 cm)
• 4 large wooden skewers
• 2 x 5 mL syringes

Preparation required before the session:

WATCH THIS VIDEO! Before the session begins, you will need to prepare the scaffold of the hydraulic lift. 

Materials

• Scissors
• Marker
• Ruler
• Push pin (or another type of pin)
• Piece of cardboard from your corrugated cardboard box at least 10 cm by 35 cm
• Optional: Skewer

Instructions (see video for visual)

• Use a pen/marker to measure out 8 cardboard pieces approximately 12 cm x 4 cm
• Cut the 8 pieces out
• Trim around the corners of the pieces so they are round with scissors
• Using the pin, make a hole in the centre of each piece
• Make a hole halfway between the middle hole and the end of the cardboard piece on each side (see video)
• Repeat for all 8 pieces
• Use the skewer to expand the holes.

*If you registered by March 30th and submitted the Free Kit form, you will be receiving these supplies in the mail. If you did not, you can purchase these supplies independently to complete the activity.