Kids Repair Cafe
Look at this. These are Dutch children. In school. During school hours. They’re not taking a test. They’re not filling out a worksheet. They’re repairing broken electronics and small machines — hands-on, side by side with adult volunteers — as part of their regular school curriculum. The curriculum kit is currently available in Dutch, English and German, with plans to roll out in additional languages.
It’s called the Kids Repair Café. It started in the Netherlands and has since spread to schools across Europe. Meanwhile, most American middle schoolers can’t change a lightbulb. Can’t read a lease. Can’t cook a meal that doesn’t involve a microwave. Can’t look at a pay stub and understand what they’re actually taking home That’s not a knock on American kids. They’re smart. They’re capable. Nobody taught them.
This is the gap I talk about constantly as a credentialed K–12 teacher and a former media executive — and it’s the gap my private Facebook group, with a library of free resources is built around
What Dutch kids are learning in that classroom goes way beyond fixing a toy car:
- Critical thinking — diagnosing a problem before reaching for a solution
- Collaboration — working alongside someone with knowledge they don’t have yet
- Problem-solving — figuring it out, not giving up when something doesn’t work
- Environmental intelligence — understanding that things have value, and waste has a cost
- Confidence — the kind that only comes from doing something hard and succeeding
These are life skills. Adult skills. Skills that make the difference between a young person who can navigate the world and one who calls home every time something goes wrong. American schools weren’t designed to teach this. And most parents are too time-crunched, too overloaded, and honestly — nobody taught them either. That’s exactly why I created my private group Mastering Adult Life Skills For Preteens To Young Adults with free resources. .And, why I am building my online course( More on that soon). Not to replace what schools do. To help fill in some of the gaps. Should American children be buidling these skills early too?