Places, Traditions and Discoveries · Drawing 40 of 40
An idea that glides over snow
1959 — the small snowmobile is introduced
In Valcourt, Joseph-Armand Bombardier developed a small snowmobile. Like his, today’s snowmobiles glide on skis and are pushed along by a track.
Look together
Can you find the skis and the track?
An idea to try
Your child draws an invented vehicle for a terrain of their choice, then explains which parts would help it move.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
The Musée de l’ingéniosité J. Armand Bombardier tells the story of vehicles adapted to snow. It presents a small-snowmobile prototype from 1958 and a model marketed in 1959. This history includes trials followed by changes to vehicles and their parts over time.
The drawing shows an imagined contemporary snowmobile with front skis and a track. It is not the 1959 model. Find the different parts and discuss the problem inventors wanted to solve: travelling over snow. Then imagine another vehicle adapted to a particular terrain, without discussing how to drive it.
Sources and illustration notes (1)
A generic, contemporary snowmobile without branding; neither the 1958 prototype nor the vehicle sold in 1959 is reproduced.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Musée de l’ingéniosité J. Armand Bombardier — 50 ans d’histoire pour le MuséePrototype de 1958, commercialisation de la petite motoneige en 1959 et évolution des composants.
Source review: 2026-09-12. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
