Jo-jo's Contraption

At my house, my kids are always on the look-out for "friends" who make interesting things. From my point of view, these "friends" are "mentors" and "role models" for preschool engineers. Their work inspires new and different kinds of building. Their stories demonstrate the impetus for building and the challenges of the nature of engineering. We know that Rosie Revere and Iggy Peck are young builders/makers and we recently discovered Tinkerbell's inspiring back-story. Dr. Seuss has long been our go-to author for seeing cool contraptions (like the who's asleep counter with it's funnels and pipes and stuff) and the movie based on his book "Horton Hears a Who" introduces us to a new maker - Jojo.

Jojo is a quiet little guy. He is not interested in the work of his father, the Mayor. But when the Mayor least expects it and needs his help the most, Jojo delivers. Jojo is an engineer of musical instruments. He has created a musical contraption from repurposed items including rubberband balls, marbles, and empty glass bottles. My kids are obsessed with Jojo and his contraption. In a one-minute scene we see what Jojo has made and we have watched it over and over and over again. Inspired, my kids have built their own musical contraptions. They have learned that musical instruments are built by people. And we have a new preschool engineer hall-of-famer.

Enjoy the unveiling of Jojo's contraption here...