Imagination Station

What's Happening

At A.C. Gilbert’s Imagination Station, children can see A.C.’s fantastic toys and inventions for themselves. Among the highlights of the exhibit are a working American Flyer model railroad, Gilbert puzzles, and an Erector Set station where children can build structures using America’s most famous construction toy. They can also listen to a National Public Radio show on Gilbert and hear one of A.C. Gilbert’s toy inventors reflect on his time at Gilbert’s toy factory. Adults will also enjoy seeing some of their favorite childhood toys and learning about the life of one of Oregon’s most interesting people.

Discovery Question & Experiments

Try This

Press the button and hear the roar of the rails on our realistic American Flyer ‘S’ gauge railroad. Count how many different rail road cards you see. Do you know what the car might be used to carry?

Try This

Listen to the story of Charles “Chuck” Ryan who worked with A.C. Gilbert. Do you think it would be fun to make toys for a living? What kind of toys would you make at your own toy factory?

Try This

Gilbert advertises his toys differently to boys and girls. How does he do this?

Create Something

At Home

Invisible Ink.

Supplies:
Paper, calligraphy pen with clean tip or other sharp tipped writing utensil that will not leave a mark on paper, candle, lemon juice.

How To:

Pour a little lemon juice in a cup. Dip your writing utensil in the lemon juice and write a message in large letters on the sheet of paper. When the liquid dries, the message will be invisible. To make the message reappear, hold the paper close to the flame of a candle or facing a fire (CAREFUL!), the message will gradually show as faint brown scorching. The paper absorbs the lemon juice, and the lemon juice combines with oxygen from the air and is oxidized. The product is brown in color and stains the paper that absorbed the lemon juice

At School

Lesson: Kids explore the different cars that make up a train and learn about the different products that their state produces. They then design their own class train that will carry the products from their state.

Materials:
Raid the recycle bin! Shoe boxes, toilet paper rolls, masking tape, scissors, markers, paper. State map with products of region. Pictures of different railroad cars. Optional: wooden dowels and spools.

How To:

1) Discuss with your class how trains move supplies from one part of the country to another. Have class brainstorm what products their hometown or state produces. What kind of boxcars are needed to haul these products?

2) Once your class has made a list of products, divide your class into small group of 2-3 children. Assign a product to each group.

3) Have the groups each design a boxcar to hold their product using recyclables. Use dowels and spools for wheels, if desired.

4) When each group has finished, connect all the box cars to create a train.

5) Then, make a large floor map of your state on butcher paper with train tracks.

Academic Concepts:

Social Science: Maps, Charts and Graphs, Physical and Cultural Characteristics, Distribution of People, Ideas and Products