Unleash your kids' ingenuity and get them thinking like engineers with these 15 Design Squad challenges. Designed for 9-12 year olds, each challenge has step-by-step instructions and age-appropriate explanations of the main idea.
Age Range:
Grade 4 and up
Skills/subjects:
Materials, Tools and Machines, Engineering Design, Physical Science
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Confetti Launcher
Challenge
Create a device that launches a spoonful of confetti into the air. The bigger the cloud, the better.
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Get-Moving Game
Challenge
Make an indoor game for one or two people that gets you moving.
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Harmless Holder
Challenge
Invent a holder for six cans that's animal-safe, sturdy, convenient, and easy to carry.
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Speedy Shelter
Challenge
Design an emergency shelter that can fit a person and is sturdy and quick to build.
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Convenient Carrier
Challenge
Invent a convenient way for someone using crutches or a wheelchair to carry small personal items.
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Invent a Better World
Challenge
Apply your invention skills to your own life. Identify a need in your home, community, or school, then invent a solution to do something about it.
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Launch It
Challenge
Design an air-powered rocket that can hit a distant target.
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Touch Down
Challenge
Create a platform that can safely cushion "astronauts" when they land on a table near you.
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Roving
Challenge
Build a rubber band–powered car that can scramble across the room.
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Heavy Lifting
Challenge
Build a cardboard crane and see how heavy a load it can lift.
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On Target
Challenge
Modify a paper cup so it can zip down a line and drop a marble on a target.
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Feel the Heat
Challenge
Heat things up by building a solar hot water heater.
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Watercraft
Challenge
Design and build a boat out of straws and plastic wrap that can hold 25 pennies for at least ten seconds before sinking.
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Paper Table
Challenge
Design and build a table out of newspaper tubes. Make it at least eight inches tall and strong enough to hold a heavy book.
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Zip Line
Challenge
Design and build something that can carry a Ping-Pong ball from the top of a zip line string to the bottom in four seconds (or less!).
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Paddle Power
Challenge
Design and build a boat that paddles itself across a container of water using a rubber band as its power source.
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Helping Hand
Challenge
Design and build a device that lets you grab different objects and drop them into a container that’s at least two feet away from you.
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Rubber Band Car
Challenge
Build a car that goes really far, really fast. Oh, by the way, your power source is a rubber band, and your car can only have two wheels. Start your engines!
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Motorized Car
Challenge
Hungry for high performance? Make a car that uses a battery-operated motor to move. Time to put your car into high gear!
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High Rise
Challenge
Build a tower that can support a tennis ball at least 18 inches off the ground while withstanding the wind from a fan.
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Kinetic Sculpture
Challenge
Make a sculpture that is at least six inches tall and has at least two parts that move in the wind. That's what makes it kinetic—it moves. But watch out, wind can also knock it over. So, make sure the tower is sturdy enough to stand up in the wind.
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Pop Fly
Challenge
It's football with a twist. Invent a way to send a Ping-Pong ball flying high enough to catch it. Take some paint stirrers, a wooden spool, and tape. Now, add your foot. Ready, set, launch!
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Four Corners
Challenge
To operate efficiently, machines need their parts to fit precisely and to work together smoothly. Your challenge is to build a machine out of cardboard that runs smoothly and dependably. Here's a hint-be precise, be very precise.
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Hidden Alarm
Challenge
Here's a chance for a little mischief—just a little. Design an alarm that you can turn on and off and is small enough to hide. Make your friends and family ask, "What's buzzing?"
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Dance Pad Mania
Challenge
Build a dance pad that lets you use your feet to sound a buzzer or flash a light.
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Kicking Machine
Challenge
Build a machine that kicks a Ping-Pong ball into a cup lying on its side 12 inches away. Use either (1) a pendulum, (2) a rubber band, or (3) a combination of the two to do this.
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Extreme Kicking Machine
Challenge
Modify your kicking machine. Have it either release the pendulum or rubber band when you're standing three feet away, or have it automatically feed balls into the kicking machine, one after another.