Kodo Kids Wind Tunnel

This spring we finally got one of the Kodo Kids Wind Tunnels. Have you seen these? Whenever we go to children's or science museums, like the Thinkery, we find ourselves drawn to the wind tunnels! We are engaged in the process, investigating, hypothesizing, experimenting, and more.

I found many plans online to make one of these, but couldn't locate a suitable plastic/plexiglass for the tunnel. If you have ideas for this, please let me know. I looked for quite some time, but only found 150 yards of it which was a little overkill for my needs. I have been drooling over the wind tunnels for quite some time, so finally bit the bullet and sprung for one. As they mention on their website, it's cheaper to get the fan from Amazon. I wanted the tunnel for a nature inspired tinkering program, but find we are using it in so many ways!


Just recently, one of the kids in nature preschool was curious about his superhero taking a ride on the wind! He tested it and realized it didn't work. Later he tested a rock. The wind didn't move it. We started thinking more . . .

 

We noticed the feathers went up so easily through the tube. Why not the toy superhero? We grabbed a scale to do some comparisons. He even tested out another toy with the scale. We never got close with the feathers!

We have used the tunnel for many activities, such as when we were doing nature inspired tinkering. One activity called for designing our own windburn seed. Children had a variety of seeds and materials such as sticky notes, tissue paper, feathers, straws, and more for their designs. Then they tested their designs to see how they worked.

We also had a Fairy Wings and Wild Things festival. We had supplies ready to make their own magical creatures

 

It's magical! The children love the cause and effect exploration of the tube. I like that it is easy to use, required minimal set up, is sturdy, can change the angle and speed of the wind, and is engaging! On the website they mention this would appropriate for classroom use. I found that is was great with small groups at a nature center or at my house.