“Being a Teacher Is Fulfilling”: Creative Learners Please ‘Meneer’ With Amazing Amusement Projects

• A technology teacher from a school in Randfontein shared the impressive moving amusement park models that his talented learners built using simple recycled materials
• The grade students used small electric motors and batteries to make their cardboard rides spin around like real professional theme park attractions
• Social media users had mixed reactions to the speed of the miniature rides, with some joking that the inventions looked a bit too fast for comfort
• Briefly News reached out to Thili for comment, and he shared how the project came together and what challenged his learners most

A Randfontein teacher has gone viral after his learners presented motorised amusement park ride models for their Technology class.

The projects, built from everyday materials, had South Africans talking for all the right reasons and a few of the wrong ones.

Thili teaches Technology at Grace Christian Academy, a school about 40km west of Johannesburg. His learners built miniature versions of real fairground rides. Think Cape Wheel-style structures and spinning thrill rides, all powered by small motors and batteries. The builds were put together largely from cardboard, and when switched on, they actually moved. The results were enough to stop Mzansi mid-scroll.

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From cardboard boxes to ‘Cape Wheel’

These kinds of hands-on projects sit firmly within the South African CAPS curriculum for Technology. The subject pushes learners to design, build and test working systems using basic materials.

The learners’ rides were not just visual replicas as they rotated and moved the way the real thing would. Getting motors and batteries to work together at the right speed takes more problem-solving than most people give school kids credit for.

The comments get cheeky

On 22 March 2026, Thili posted a TikTok clip under the handle @theeadvo showing his learners presenting their finished models. The caption said it was his first amusement park rides project as a Technology teacher and that his class went all out. The video pulled in a wave of reactions from South Africans who were impressed but also could not help themselves when it came to some of the spinning models.

Briefly News speaks to Thili

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Thili told Briefly News that the idea to build amusement park rides was driven by “the learners’ natural interest in fun and movement.” From start to finish, the projects took roughly two to three weeks. They covered every stage from investigating and designing to making and presenting the final models.

He said the biggest hurdle for most of his learners was the technical side of things.

“The most challenging part for most of these kids was to connect the batteries, motors and cutting the materials to the accurate standard,” he said.

He added that despite the difficulty, “they put so much effort into these projects to get this great outcome.”

Remarkably, the projects cost nothing. Thili said there was no budget at all. Learners sourced all their own recycled materials.

Watch the projects in the TikTok clip below:

Mzansi reacts to the creativity of the learners

Briefly News compiled some comments from the post below.

@Vuyomageba commented:

“Uncles at home are seeing this and not getting a credit. 😭😂”

@Platinum.precious💋 said:

“I would never ride the second one. 😭😳Yoh! That’s scanty. 😂”

@dedeLETSHOLO wrote:

“Being a teacher is fulfilling. 👏🫶✊ Aluta continua, brother.”

@mogale highlighted:

“Exactly where my dreams begin. I remember we had to build a bridge. ❤️”

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@Medical photographer🩻 comment:

“Hopefully, Gold Reef City is taking notes. We need new rides, especially the second one!🔥”

@Clara Sithole🩵 noted:

“I hated this subject with passion cause I couldn’t do any of these projects. 😭”

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• Special needs learners at a Kimberley school stopped President Ramaphosa cold with a military drill on Human Rights Day.
• A Pretoria teacher was blindfolded by her own learners as part of a planned birthday surprise that left her completely lost for words.

Source: Briefly News