Put water to work with hydraulics! Engineer your own hydraulic lifting claw with tubes, syringes, and water before putting it through a series of fun challenges. Then, explore how hydraulic systems work and see how they can be incorporated into heavy machinery, art installations, and even animatronics!

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Tinker

Hydraulic Claw

It was the perfect rainy day project as it kept my daughter occupied and learning.

I have been obsessing over Kiwico for months and finally ordered some of the items that managed to arrive all the way to the UK in good nick. 
My son is a wee 5 year (below the suggested age group for this item) but understands the concept of ‘hydraulics’ because we subscribe to Mel science boxes catered to 5 year olds and one of the box was about hydraulics. Both my son and I were impressed with the contents of the box and how it is such a layered project - so you don’t finish the project as soon as we finish building one thing. The book that came in the box is good too. He has been inventing his own contraptions and seems to enjoy himself while playing with his invention. 
I look forward to buying more things from kiwico store but they seem to have limited items that can be shipped to the UK which is a shame. 

My son liked this project but it was difficult to get it connected to the box & to make it fully functional. Still his 2nd favorite project 

My son absolutely loved the hydraulic claw! He wasn’t expecting it and really didn’t know what it was until we got into the science of it. Once it was completed he said it was “So Cool” and his favorite box yet. 

My nephew really loved putting this together, and together with my niece, have discovered that there are tons of things in my sister's house that they can pick up!

Enjoyed any minute putting it together with my son and still enjoying it see him playing with it  

Liked this one a lot. First box that I got for my 4 year old daughter so I did do most of the work for it but I like the little experiment page that goes over the difference between using air VS water and how it makes a difference in compression. I would like more kits like this that have little side experiments that I can do with my daughter so she can have a better understanding of how things work and why it’s important to use one thing vs another. I do wish it came with a little food coloring pods or something to use in the water because that does make it easier for her to understand which syringe moves certain parts of the claw. Overall fun project (: 

great design. works awesome, although with all the weight of the hydraulics, over time it starts to bend over. Maybe add some support in the main arm to keep to more ridgid

My granddaughter really enjoyed building the claw and learning about hydraulics. The one flaw in the design was the base. Soon after attaching the claw to the box, it became wobbly and began to tilt - almost to the point of falling over. We switched the box around and tried again, but had the same result. I think it needs a better system of attachment to the box.


Construct your own lifting claw and learn how hydraulic systems work. Continue the experimentation with bonus design challenges.
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Hydraulic Claw

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