Since you want your kids to be competent adults one day, you’ve decided to take on the task of teaching them about torque and how that applies to various tools they’ll be using. Working with your children and teaching them how to use your various tools can be a truly bonding moment for you and your children.
Or it can be an unmitigated nightmare.
As you would prefer the first option, those of us at Cheater Wrench want to give you a hand. We’ve got some simple steps for you to walk your kids through, which will cut down on frustration and potentially stripped tools.
Define Torque
It is never comfortable to have someone throwing around terms you don’t understand. So define torque the simplest way possible for your children:
“Torque is a twisting force that makes things rotate.”
While that is the most basic way to define it, you will find that your children need a bit more to go off of before they understand torque.
Give Kids Examples of Torque
Definitions are best accompanied by examples or demonstrations. In this case, since you are referring to your tools, your task is even easier.
First, you can show them the application of torque by screwing and unscrewing a screw into a piece of scrap wood. However, if you have young children you are trying to instruct (under the age of 8) then this may not be the safest course to take as you will be letting them try after you show them.
Instead, you can also show them as part of a demonstration on how to remove a tire’s lug nut from the family car.
Also, by using the car demonstration, you can also address how they can multiply their torque with different tools.
Let Them Try
Once you think they have the basic idea down and they have watched you go through the motions, it’s time to let them try it.
By using a car’s lug nut, you can walk them through the levels of torque different tools can apply. Start them out with a simple, non-adjustable wrench and let them try to remove a lug nut. Depending on their age or size, this may not be possible.
Work them up through a socket wrench and then let them put the Cheater Wrench promise to the test.
By getting your kids to understand torque, they will have a great understanding of what tools are best suited to the tasks they are faced with.