Dan Turinsky and his dad collaborated at home to bring a historical transport chariot "machine" to life as part of the Enviroschools Time Travel Challenge at the Nelson Heritage Festival last week.

Dan was inspired by the challenge and wanted to give it a go.

"Mum said, 'Dad's a bit of a genius when it comes to this sort of thing', I just helped paint it," Dan said.

Dan is part of the senior student organising committee for the Nelson Central School participation in the Time Travel Challenge.

The Nelson Heritage Festival event inspired Nelson Enviroschool students to develop their ideas about active travel and link them to how their grandparents and great-grandparents may have travelled to and from school.

Four Enviroschools participated in the three-day active travel challenge, which included Victorian dress-ups, where students compared photos of modern-day Nelson to historical photos, and learned about travelling as a character from the past.

The Nelson Heritage Festival runs until 29 April.

For further information go to nelson.govt.nz/heritage-festival