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Check out these fun engineering activities for kids. Hands-on projects and challenges that will get your creative, little builders learning through play!
Since the early years, my kids have been interested in building. We’ve gone through buckets of LEGO projects along with what feels like every other building toy under the sun.
Building toys are perfect for open-ended learning through play, and I’m excited to share some projects that can grow that early love of building into a deeper understanding of engineering.
Hands-on Engineering Activities for Kids
Engineers have constructed everything around us – the house we live and to the vehicles we drive, the furniture we sit on to the playground equipment our kids love to climb. Everything we see and use daily would not have been possible without some form of engineering.
But how to do we break the big concepts of engineering down for our kids?
One great way is to start young with STEM activities and challenges created for kids to learn about different aspects of engineering through play and experimentation. The engineering side of STEM focuses on problem-solving and creating your own designs, as well as building devices and structures.
This early focus on engineering will help your kids understand bigger concepts later, and could even be the starting point for their future career!
12 Fun, Hands-on Engineering Activities for Kids
My favorite part about including these types of STEM activities is that it encourages older children to continue to learn through play. They can experiment, succeed, fail, and enjoy the process of learning without a pre-determined outcome.
I hope you enjoy some (or all) of the activities on the following list. Trying some engineering STEM activities will breath new life into your old building toys and have your kids looking at some familiar household objects in a while new way!
1. Build a Hexbug Maze with Straws
from Buggy and Buddy
2. Build a Structure from Paper Blocks
from Babble Dabble Do
3. Build a Structure you can Balance On
from A Gift Of Curiosity
4. Building Pool Noodle Structures
from Little Bins for Little Hands
5. Build a Shelter from the Sun
from Buggy And Buddy
6. How to Make a Windmill Model
from Adventure In A Box
7. Pool Noodle Marble Run
from Teach Beside Me
8. Popsicle Stick Catapults
from Little Bins For Little Hands
9. Storytime LEGO Building Challenge
from Left Brain Craft Brain
10. Build a Cork Raft that Floats
from Kitchen Counter Chronicles
11. Build a Popsicle Stick Bridge
from Teach Beside Me
12. Upcycled Marker-Bots
from Left Brain Craft Brain
Where to go next?
- Top STEM Gifts for Kids
- Preschool STEM Activities
- Learning Through Play: What it means & how to get started
Ashley helps parents who want to homeschool find the resources they need to successfully teach their children. Ashley is a former teacher, current homeschooler, published author, and designer behind Circle Time with Miss Fox printables as well as the creator of this website, The Homeschool Resource Room.