Dismantling a toaster or laptop might typically get a child a stern talking-to from Mom or Dad. But not during Deb Sigel’s Take Apart classes.
On the first Saturday in March, eight kids and their parents sat amid an assortment of household appliances and electronic devices at Shelburne’s Pierson Library as Sigel, a town resident who is a mechanical and aerospace engineer, went over the rules. Nothing should be plugged in. Batteries, if found, should be deposited in a box at the front of the room. Eating while working was not allowed. Safety goggles were required.
“We are not smashing,” Sigel advised. “We are not destroying.”
Before letting the kids loose, she gave them the most important advice of all: Have fun.
Sigel, who formerly worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, started offering Take Apart workshops 16 years ago with a group of fellow engineers in California. Their goal? To make engineering and using tools more accessible to kids. Her family came to Vermont eight years ago, and she has continued to offer occasional free classes for kids age 5 and up through the Pierson Library and local schools. To prepare, Sigel solicits donations of old alarm clocks, sewing machines and the like via Front Porch Forum.
At the library, 12-year-old Silas Miller, a homeschooler, worked diligently to take apart an electric drill with a screwdriver. He had attended several of Sigel’s classes before and likes taking things apart at home, too. One time, he dismantled a Nikon digital camera, looked at what was inside, then put it back together.
“That was really cool,” he said.
Nearby, a pair hovered over a Tandberg Series 6000X reel-to-reel tape recorder.
“We might just need some brute arm strength here,” one said as they struggled to pry open a panel.
As the budding engineers got into the guts of printers, wall phones, hair dryers and coffee grinders, Sigel circulated, asking questions and helping kids identify what they were looking at.
“It’s all about learning and exploring,” Sigel said. “And because there’s no goal … a lot of the pressure is gone. You can just play.”
Learn about future Take Apart classes by contacting the Pierson Library.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Breaking It Down”
This article appears in March 25 • 2026.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!