Hose Reel

This is another instance of looking around your home to find interesting things for your Preschool Engineer to discover. The Hose Reel in the back yard is no longer just a modern day convenience. It is now a toy for learning about cranks and gears and circumference!

There are lots of hose reels out there but the one Mikey enjoyed at Uncle Joe's house was one with a "Hose Guide." The crank is big but the right size for a Preschool Engineer to turn for a little gross motor exercise. As the crank goes around, the hose winds up inside the box. If it is a hose reel with a guide, like Uncle Joe's, there is a worm gear across which a guide traverses so the hose doesn't bundle up in one big clump. The hose is distributed across the entire interior of the cavity.

As a former math teacher I like the potential geometry lesson that the hose reel invites. Simplifying the action of a hose reel to simply winding a string around a cylinder can illustrate circumference. Winding a rectangular piece of paper around a cylinder can help anyone see surface area in a new way...