It's so very important to encourage our children to pursue an interest in S.T.E.A.M from young age to give them the best start in life irrespective of gender. Significant gender gaps exist in S.T.E.A.M related education paths and careers and as a mother, I want to encourage both my son and daughter to pursue any interests they have in these areas as it would set them up well for future careers.
My daughter, Elizabeth, is six next week and is the perfect age to learn about science and experiment through play. The Project Mc² range is perfect for inspiring a spark of interest in girls of her age who may not have otherwise found science appealing.
The car is a good size, a shiny bright red colour and has some really cool features including working headlights, adjustable wing mirrors, seat belts and coloured rear lights, as well as a fabulous personalised number plate adorned with the word, 'NERDY' emblazoned on it.
Once removed from the packaging we found it comes with a separate engine, a funky remote control and a little water 'fuel' can with removable cap. Although the car is powered in part by H2O, it does require batteries that aren't included, both in the engine and the remote control (9 x AA in total), so it's best to have these ready to go along with a small Phillips head screwdriver to install them.
One thing to note is that the car doesn't include any dolls, what you see in the packaging image are cardboard cutouts. You can buy the dolls separately at around £24.99 each. We don't currently own any of the dolls from the range but may well be investing after the success of the car. This didn't bother Elizabeth the first time she played with the car as she was much more interested in how it worked, but later on she used her Anna and Elsa 'Barbie' style dolls with it and they fitted perfectly in the seats.
First Elizabeth installed the engine, connecting the wires under the bonnet like a 'real mechanic', She filled the tiny 'fuel' can with water and delighted in filling up the tank. We spoke about how the water would complete an electrical circuit and turn on the 'power', she actually squealed when the lights came on! Elizabeth was full of questions and we popped over to the Project Mc² website to find out some more answers. Here's what it had to say:
Water has two jobs here. First, adding it into your RC car turns it on. The water completes an electrical circuit and allows electricity to flow from the battery to the motor. Second, it creates the mist that looks like the car’s exhaust. The mist is made from millions of tiny water droplets. Splashing around a pool creates lots of large droplets, but if you could do this ultra-fast, you would form ultra-tiny water droplets. The same thing happens in your RC car. A small plate vibrates super-fast to make millions of tiny water droplets that form the car "exhaust."The remote control allowed Elizabeth to maneuver the car around and she found it a lot easier to use that RC cars we've had in the past. She loved the effect of the steam coming out of the exhaust pipes and kept refilling it again and again.
I've had a little trouble uploading our video that we had great fun making, so for now you can watch it in action on the Project Mc² youtube channel, but i'll add our video in as soon as I can!
Elizabeth has gotten excellent play value out of this toy, playing imaginatively with her dollies (taking them shopping to the 'Traffic Centre' and on a trip to the theatre) but what's more is that she has also gained knowledge, asked questions and taken a real interest in how it works, even explaining to Nanna on the phone how; 'the water conducts the electricity and takes the power from the engine to the lights'.
The Project Mc² H₂O RC Car is aimed at children aged six and over which I think is about right for them to be able to get full educational as well as play value from it. It has an RRP of £59.99 but I've seen offers on amazon with at least 20% off that, so if it's on your child's list, do shop around. Although that may seem like a high price tag, this is a substantial toy that would certainly be a 'main' gift at Christmas. For a branded toy I found it to be really high quality and sturdy with great attention t detail both inside and outside the vehicle. It fits in nicely with the rest of the range and is a great tie in to the Netflix series if your child is a fan of watching McKeyla McAlister, Camryn Coyle, Adrienne Attoms,Bryden Bandweth and their adventures.
Why not check out some of the other great Science toys and kits reviewed by The Brick Castle family? Project MC2 Lab Kit, Adrienne Attoms Doll with Volcano Experiment Review, Circuit Beats Review, McKeyla Doll with Lava Lamp Experiment Review.
This post contains affiliate links. We were sent the Project Mc² H₂O RC Ca in exchange for this post.
and would make a great gift.