Having just gotten back from Malaysia, which included something like 10 separate flights (two each direction, and some round-drip excursions within Malaysia), Anthony certainly had plenty of time to absorb the “airport experience.” So I thought it only slightly odd when he wanted me to make a “baggage checker” (baggage X-Ray machine) out of paper and tape. What he did with it, well, I thought amazing.
Airport Security Gate, Anthony Style
The white paper thing in the center is what I made for him, under his close direction and supervision (of the luggage chute, for example, he animately directed that “this needs to slope down”). The rest he did while playing all by himself...
To the upper-right is a desk with the X-Ray video display, and a chair for the person monitoring the video display. To the lower-right is the “people checker,” with related barriers and such.
(Scattered around the top of the picture are small pieces of luggage that I'd made for him the other day, to fit in the trunk of a little toy car he has.)
The previous post (“Amazing Cherry Blossoms in North-East Kyoto”) featured Anthony playing with a bubble maker. Bubble soap being messy, it's for outside use only, but he liked that the fan turned when he pressed the button, and wanted to play with it inside as if it were an airplane. I said fine, and a few minutes later, he brought this to show me....
Bubblemaker → Airplane Conversion
He cut and colored some wings, horizontal stabilizers, passenger windows, and two windows up front for the pilots.
I know I'm biased, but this is just amazing for a four-year-old kid, no?
Your photos and blog are probably the worlds best documentation of the growth and development of an engineer. It’s kind of like watching a butterfly or moth develop from a cocoon – you know the precise outcome from the beginning, but each step of the process is no less fascinating and wonder inspiring because of that knowledge. Obviously Anthony has many choices, and his life is not predestined. But with his skills, I don’t think it’d be a big risk to put money on the fact that he’ll end up in the sciences.