Zachary and I were watching Sesame Street this morning and Grover was telling us about galimotos which are "motorcars" made by African children. 

The children gather spare wheels and scraps of wire (or sticks and cornstalks) and then bend and twist the wire to form toy cars.  What's really neat about these galimotos is that the children use a long stick (or wire) to attach the fully-functional steering wheels to the cars so they don't have to crouch down to push their cars around.  I guess you could call them the first "remote-controlled" cars.

Karen Lynn Williams has written a book about a boy named Kondi who decides to make a galimoto.

When Kondi tells his older brother, Ufulu that he is going to make a Galimoto, Ufulu laughs at him. Where in the village will Kondi find enough wire to shape into a truck, a car, even a bicycle? "A boy with only seven years cannot make such a toy," says Ufulu. But Kondi is determined to have his very own galimoto by the end of the day.

She has also created a lesson plan for teachers who are interested in teaching their students about galimotos.

Here is a close-up picture of a couple boys playing with their galimoto. 

I've also found a very cute and colorful galimoto which represents a child riding a bike.  Supposedly the child "pedals" as the wheels move.

Making a galimoto would be a neat weekend project.  I might just have to make one for Zachary.

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