One of the kids' friends asked about magnets a few weeks ago. This led to three weeks worth of play dates on electric circuits, electromagnets, and last but not least, Motors!!! (It's nice to have a physicist in the family). The motors were amazingly simple to put together, so I’m including the instructions. Here’s a picture so we have something to talk about. The parts are: • 1 D cell battery • 1 pound of 18 awg magnet wire, (you don’t need the whole pound, but Amazon sells It by the pound… seriously) • 1 piece of cardboard out of the side of a box, • 1 magnet • scotch tape The How Tape the D cell to the cardboard so it can’t move. Next, cut two 4 inch pieces of magnet wire. The next step is a bit of work, but use a kitchen knife, or a piece of sandpaper to scrape off the red insulation until you just see bare copper wire. Place a dime size loop in one end of the wire, and then bend it over at a right angle to the rest of the wir...