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It’s never too early to build engineering skills! Basic STEM engineering-oriented activities help instill scientific principles, introduce students to the basics of engineering, and encourage kids to work together to solve problems, all while having fun!
Important basic engineering concepts include simple mechanics, forces and motion, structural stability, material science, and taking the process from design to construction. Try these team building engineering games for kids to start thinking about the world like an engineer. These activities guide students to think outside the box as they create structures, machines, and tools that set them on the path to their scientific futures.
1. Be super cup stackers
When teachers hear “engineering projects and games,” they often envision long lists of materials and complex instructions. But that shouldn’t be the case! All you need to create mug structures is a pack of mugs, and some creativity from your students.
You can set up challenges for them to meet, such as “Create the longest cup structure in this small space” or “Measure the hardest thing you can do using only cups,” and see what your eager engineers come up with.
Cup Pack – Different Challenge Cards in the First Pack
For First Batches
Grades: K-3rd
Subjects: Class Society, Engineering
Mugs aren’t just for drinking when you’re an engineer! A series of 80 cup stacking challenges puts young scientists to work on fine motor skills, coordination, and critical thinking. Use activities during STEM focus, free time with students, or even between PE classes.
2. Earthquake proof building
How can engineering principles save people and property during a natural disaster? Designing a building that can withstand earthquakes is a major goal for professional engineers, and it can be a great engineering activity for the kids in your science class as well.
After the earthquake unit, provide students with any items they need in their buildings, or challenge them to come up with their own inventory with group members. Find ways to simulate earthquakes to test buildings!
STEM Challenge Earthquake Engineering Work to Solve the Problem of Natural Disasters
For Teachers Best – STEM Careers
Grades: 4th-5th
Subject: Engineering
Levels: NGSS 3-5-ETS1-1, 2, 3; 4-ESS3-1, 2
This NGSS-aligned engineering resource encourages groups of undergraduate students to build earthquake-resistant structures. With a complete list of materials to build a gelatin shake tray, student lab sheets, and teacher’s instruction notes, the project is a memorable way to teach students about building integrity.
3. Make a paper chair for teddy bears
Everyone has to live somewhere – even teddy bears. Encourage junior and senior elementary students to use blank paper and tape to create a structurally sound chair that will support the bear’s weight. Set up a gallery and have each group present their project in front of the class, and whichever group successfully gets the teddy bear on top of the chair wins the challenge!
Paper Chair: Engineering Challenges Project ~ Great STEM Activity!
Posted by Smart Chick
Grades: 2-7
Subject: Engineering
This paper chair project resource includes everything you need to see this project from start to finish. With lab sheets, student instructions, and teacher materials, this compact engineering resource is an effective way to get kids working together and thinking critically.
4. Set up their first Rube Goldberg machine
Rube Goldberg machines are the ultimate guide to cause and effect for young readers. That’s why it’s the most popular team building engineering games for kids: The fun doesn’t end when they’re built because you can keep playing with them afterwards! Marbles, small balls, dominoes, or any other device can work in students’ Rube Goldberg machines, which should also include ramps, tools, levels, or any other device students can think of to keep them moving.
A Simple Rube Goldberg STEM Engineering Project Machine for Power Transmission, Energy
Designed to Teach
Grades: 4th-8th
Subjects: General Science, Physical Science
Levels: NGSS 3-5-ETS1-1, 2, 3; 4-PS3-3; 5-PS2-1; MS-PS3-2, 5
Review important engineering concepts with elementary students when you present a classic Rube Goldberg project. This resource uses a 10-step student packet to help groups understand the transfer of power and energy, as well as background information on Rube Goldberg himself.
5. Build a house of cards
Go beyond flashcards when you use flashcards in a STEM building challenge. Given a set of base sizes and a list of materials, including cards, tape, paper, and anything else young students might need to build their structure, teams work together to build the tallest (or strongest, depending on the challenge) tower of index cards. Older students can try the activity with just the cards, using only their center of gravity to balance the entire tower!
Basic STEM Engineering Project: Tower Card Reference (Essential)
By Science Demo Guy STEM Challenges & Activities
Grades: K-2nd
Subjects: Engineering, General Science
When you have a stack of index cards, the possibilities are endless! Use a preschool engineering resource to teach students the basics of STEM as they build towers using only index cards, masking tape, and collaboration. Bring the game to older students to try without using tape.
6. Make a snack pulley
We use pulleys every day in different jobs to get the jobs done. One of those jobs is to bring snacks. Using everyday materials such as shoelaces, string, popsicle sticks, and cardboard, students work together to create a pulley system that can deliver snacks to each person’s bowl. Once they have created a pulley, they can play a game where winners of reading or trivia questions are rewarded with snacks delivered by their invention.
7. Clean up oil spills
Combine chemistry, earth science, environmental science, and engineering as teams try to find a way to clean up an oil spill as efficiently as possible. This STEM project for kids can be as low-prep as you want, using only vegetable or olive oil, oil-based cleaning soap, sponges, and materials to create a scrubbing or washing system, or you can encourage students to get creative with their materials and art. Turn the system into a game by challenging students to create a wiping system that scrubs off heavily greased rubber ducks within a set time limit.
8. Make a greenhouse that gives energy
A greenhouse is a popular engineering project for kids because it allows them to follow the growth of a plant until it blooms and blossoms. Using the power of the sun and their knowledge of engineering and earth science, elementary students must create a greenhouse so that their potted seeds can grow most efficiently. Materials for building a greenhouse can include cellophane, clear plastic, tape, or anything else they need to ensure that sunlight makes their plants grow.
9. See music with a DIY tonoscope
One of the most engaging sound science projects for middle school and elementary engineering classes is the tonoscope: a musical instrument that allows you to see the vibrations of sound as you play. Have students bring items from home, such as recycled food containers and cardboard paper towel tubes, and provide them with rubber bands, balloons, and salt.
Guide them through the steps to cut a tube-shaped hole in the food container, click the tube into the hole, seal the container tightly with a balloon, and pour salt into the balloon. When students sing into the pipe, they can see how the salt reacts!
10. Capture engineering concepts with a marshmallow catapult
Equal parts engaging and fun, the marshmallow catapult is a favorite team-building engineering game for kids. They follow the steps to make a catapult using classroom or household materials, including rubber bands, cardboard, index cards, or anything else they want to use, and see which team catapult can launch the marshmallow the farthest.
Turn the project into a game by marking the places where the marshmallows land (or giving extra points to groups of marshmallows that end up in the students’ mouths) and award prizes at the end of the class for award-winning catapult designs.
11. Set up an unbreakable spaghetti house
Teach students how the right engineering ideas can turn soft materials into strong foundations when they use dry spaghetti noodles to build a stable house. Older students can work with noodles and small materials to build their houses, while younger students can use additional materials for support (including cardboard bases if needed). Decide if the challenge is to build a stable house or if it has to bear weight, which can be an extra challenge for students who test for allergies.
Benefits of Engineering Team Building Games for Kids
Although it may seem like a leap for elementary students to try engineering projects and games, these activities are important parts of their development and understanding of science.
They can benefit early scientists in many ways, including:
- Establishing a basic understanding of STEM concepts
- Giving students the opportunity to participate in group building activities for children
- To encourage independence and persistence in a creative environment
- Developing problem-solving skills required throughout the curriculum
- To encourage a growth mindset in both individuals and the class as a whole
- Introduction of engineering practices and methods as problem solving methods
Engineers ways for students to collaborate intelligently
When you bring group-building engineering games to your elementary classroom, you empower students to tackle problems with creativity and knowledge. Finding basic engineering supplies doesn’t have to be difficult, especially when you get the kids involved in choosing their own materials and projects!
For an extra challenge or extra inspiration, check out this list of high school engineering class projects that older elementary students might want to try when they finish their assignments.
