Are you a young maker with an interest in taking things apart and putting them back together? Hands-on experience with building or “tinkering” has many benefits for young makers. Tinkering is centered around unstructured time spent experimenting with different materials, figuring out how they work, and how they can be assembled. This process not only improves a maker’s potential for innovation but also their problem-solving skills.
The process of problem-solving leads a maker into engineering territory. The tinkerer wants to know how a thing works, the engineer wants to know how to make it work better. Have a big idea for a home project? Here are some steps to help you think like an engineer:
- Brainstorm ideas. What problem are you trying to solve? Make a plan and sketch ideas.
- Build your creation. Gather the materials you need and start making!
- Test and try your creation. Take notes on what works and what doesn’t.
- Make it better! Use your notes to make revisions and try again.
- Get a second opinion and share your idea. Talk about your process and have them give you tips on how you could improve it.
Who knows, maybe your next home construction project leads to a new invention that makes other people’s lives easier! Here are some maker projects and resources to help you level up your engineering skills.
Simple Machines
- Simple Machines Game – A game from the Chicago Science Museum, help Twitch efficiently use four different types of simple machines to complete tasks.
- Physics for Kids, Simple Machines – Descriptions for the six basic types of simple machines: Lever, Wheel and Axle, Pulley, Inclined Plane, Wedge, and Screw.
- Simple Machines: How to Make a Lever – Construct your own lever to experiment with different weights and pivots. The project includes a detailed lesson plan about other types of simple machines.
- TeachEngineering Inclined Plane – Learn how engineers use simple machines to build taller and more durable buildings.
- Make an Elevator – This experiment demonstrates how elevators work through a series of pulleys. Use home construction materials to build your own elevator system.
- Simple Machines for Kids – Videos, games, and quizzes to identify different types of simple machines.
Structures and Design
- Build this Structure – Design and build a structure that can withstand movement on Earth.
- Building the Tallest Tower – Engineers design to make sure their structures to withstand disasters like earthquakes. Create your own earthquake table to test how high you can construct a tower.
- Design a Bridge – Think like an architect and design your own bridge using pasta and marshmallows.
- All About Structures – Different technology lessons all about structures, bridges, and famous towers.
- Structures: Building Activities for Kids – Construct beams and bridges using various paper products.
- Building Big: Skyscrapers – Fun facts about the origins of skyscrapers, including the building methods and early elevators needed to accommodate these massive structures.
Simple Electronics
- The Blobz Guide – An interactive learning tool for studying electric circuits.
- Learning Electronics – Online textbooks covering electronics and electricity.
- PhET Interactive Simulations – Virtual lab projects about electricity, magnets, and circuits.
Get Building!
- Make: Projects – Tinkering and DIY projects. Some experiments may require an adult or teacher’s help.
- Tynker – Visual programming courses for kids, learn to design games, and build apps with code.
- Create a Candy Dispenser – Construct a homemade candy dispenser using carpentry materials.
- DIY Smart Phone Projector – Build a DIY projector for your smartphone using recyclable materials.
- Easy Hydraulic Machines – Create your own hydraulic-powered mechanism while learning about pneumatics.
- Build a Hydraulic Elevator– Build your own hydraulic-powered small elevator using popsicle sticks!
- STEM Activities for Families – Fun STEM experiments and science fair projects to try with the family.
- Code Avengers – Learn to build websites, apps, games, and more with code.
- MIT App Inventor – Simple instructions and guides to help you build apps.
- Robot Information Central – All about robotics and robot construction.
- Build a Sorting Machine – Harness your engineering skills to design, build, and test a sorting machine.
