An Honest Review from a Physics PhD
Review of Creator’s Craft Crates
Jack Casdorph has been a key contributor to STEM education with his beautifully built STEM kits and the Physics Curriculum that comes along with it. Physics education has long suffered from an excessively cerebral approach based in formulae, which not only places hindrances in getting a direct hands-on experience of basic physical phenomena, but also prematurely populates the young mind with abstract notions that are hard to digest. I have seen this repeatedly all through my own physics education over more than a decade, and have keenly felt the need for what Jack has now addressed. Jack’s approach takes care to allow the student to experience and learn physics and engineering through play without sacrificing the accuracy of any concept. The rough-and-ready analog nature of the various devices also invites participation and experimentation, which is the precise point of the whole exercise. Only through fresh self-discovery is true discovery possible.
I was particularly impressed with his Pegboard Pinball – it is a creative approach to a board game for all ages, which encourages creativity by allowing the pinball pegs to be changed and switched around. Most kits do not allow for that kind of freedom, and are usually fixed. This one allows a whole world of play to open up by simply allowing the player to change things. I wish I had this when playing as a kid.