Car exhibit for kids plants the seed to sprout future auto technicians
Designed to pique the imagination while giving youngsters a hands-on peak at what it feels like to work on a car, a special Children’s Exhibit unveiled at AAPEX proved to be a big hit with kids – and adults – of all ages.
Rich White, senior vice president of the Auto Care Association, who had seen a similar installation at the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum in Milwaukee, came up with the idea. “I went up there and thought, ‘This would be perfect!’ I watched the kids playing and talked to the parents standing there,” he recounts.
“We’ve had this idea for a number of years that this would be a fun project for the Car Care Council; part of our role is educating consumers, and this fits right in,” says White.
“It will plant the seed in kids’ minds” that learning about auto repair may be a career route to pursue when they get older, with their fertile imaginations also influencing Mom and Dad regarding the importance of preventative maintenance and the other benefits associated with being Car Care Aware.
“Children aren’t going to go to a museum without their parents standing there watching,” White says. “Little Johnny or Betty will go home and say, ‘Can we do this to our car?’”
With AAPEX packed up and shipped out of Las Vegas until next year, the plan is to have the showcase’s concept continue as a permanent attraction at another site.
“It will eventually be donated to a children’s museum somewhere in the country. It will live on for a long time and be visited every day. Thousands and thousands of children will see it, and thousands and thousands of parents will see it.”
White invites aftermarket businesses to either sponsor or purchase a display of their own. “There are versions that can be fabricated and taken on tour. This one was designed to find a home in a children’s museum,” he says.
“You can customize and brand the exhibit with brand names on the parts and equipment, and there are a variety of signage opportunities. It’s a pretty inexpensive endeavor that will last for years and years in a community where you have a business or are headquartered.”
Tykes become techs
AutoZone, for example, has been involved with the Children’s Museum of Memphis in its hometown since the institution’s inception in 1990. Tykes become techs in a scaled-down work environment. “The AutoZone Garage is a favorite with children and adults,” according to Carrie Roberts, the museum’s director of public relations and marketing.
“Children gravitate to the minivan, where they pretend to drive and learn about child passenger safety. They also build a car, change a tire and take a virtual driving tour of Memphis. Kids see how a drivetrain works, how brakes make a vehicle stop, and how an engine cranks and works,” she reports. “Children decide what makes a car ‘happy’ or ‘sad.’ Parents also learn about proper installation of child passenger safety seats.”
And although the AutoZone Garage appears to be slightly bested by the pint-sized jet airliner and genuine climb-aboard fire truck, the car creation does draw a whole string of rave reviews. “My kids also loved the AutoZone station with the real car to play inside,” says a satisfied patron, concurring with numerous other online-posted positive opinions.
Annually averaging 160,000 visitors from all 50 states and 40 nations, last year the Memphis museum attracted 187,368 guests through the turnstiles.
Soft and safe
Steered to fruition via a $60,000 grant from the University of the Aftermarket Foundation, the Car Care Council’s kid-tested and mother- and father-approved Auto Care Center was engineered through a partnership with Milwaukee’s Brinn museum, which shared the expertise of its exhibit-building contractor. “We worked with them to fabricate this,” White says.
“Everything is custom-made and the materials are soft and safe,” he notes. “The exhibit is an interactive pretend repair shop for children to have fun and learn. It’s equipped with everything to perform maintenance on a kid-sized car.”
Aimed at ages three through 10, appropriate sound effects are generated to compliment the array of tasks they are taking on. “The mini-technicians or DIYers can have fun sorting, matching and problem-solving as they select tools, change tires, replace parts, recycle oil, fill work orders, replace the exhaust system on a creeper and even work on an engine diagnostic system,” says White, adding that even details such as a touch screen laptop are included in the experience.
With the car positioned on a lift, “there are plastic tools to remove lug nuts and change a tire, and they can get on a dolly under the car and change an exhaust,” he says.
“The Auto Care Center can showcase brands, contribute to consumer education and improve the image of the auto service and repair profession,” White says, “and even help recruit future employees to the industry.”
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