Lift Car

 ‘Lift car’ is a matchbox car that has 3 pairs of extended wheels attached to legs (located in front, middle and rear of car). 

The basic physical principle of this toy is estimation of heights and widths.  In particular, the extended wheels on the car allow the child to navigate the car over obstacles (i.e., other toy cars).  However, to do this, the child must make sure that ‘lift car’ is high enough to clear the obstacles and that the distance between any two wheels is wide enough to clear the obstacles.

Children interact with ‘lift car’ by moving the car by hand.  Also, the legs can be extended and retracted manually by simply unfolding and folding them.  Also, the toy is fun because it allows the child to navigate the toy car through mazes without having to worry about running into any obstacles. 

The construction cost of this toy is approximately $6.00.  Most of the construction cost comes from the manufacturing of the car with extended wheels in the front, middle and rear of the car.  The car is made of metal, so it appropriate for both indoor and outdoor use, although the toy may lose its paint job if exposed to water. Also, the extended legs are easily retractable, thus decreasing the risk that the legs snap off. Finally, there are no small parts that can come easily undone on this toy.  However, the car is fairly small when the legs are folded inward, and so, this toy poses a choking risk for small children.  Thus, the toy is meant for children 7 years of age and older.