Want your tots to grow up with an appreciate for renewable energy technology? Check out the Loopwing Wind Powered Toy Car. We think this is the perfect thing to inspire kids to learn some basic engineering principals, all while having eco fun! The Loopwing comes as an ‘assembly required’ kit that will titillate young, eco-minded tinkerers with a love for putting together snap or glue models.
“This new educational kit lets you explore the mechanisms involved in harnessing the alternative energy of wind power. The windmill features a loop-wing design that can be rotated by the slightest breeze,” reads one retailer’s website. And kids can also run while holding the apparatus – in a similar manner as they would with a pinwheel – in order to generate an artificial wind.
The toy speedster needs 5 to 10 minutes of power generation in order to store enough charge for 2 minutes of action. Removable gears make it a breeze to adapt the windmill in order to better harness wind power (2 gears for light wind, 3 for gusty days), while low friction connectors ensure maximum energy harvesting.
It might be a little difficult to get your hands on a Loopwing at hobby stores in the US, but the kit retails for around $45 here or here.
+ Tamiya Loopwing (Japanese website)
How many of these cars have been bought? I have a little boy who loves cars and although this is a very good thing to get children into as the environment is all about the future for them and there offspring, i just cannot seem to see my soon simply throwing it about. $36 is a good price however even if he learns to recycle the car after its broke the car has served its purpose.