Cardboard Engineering Challenge
Personalize this activity to fit your child!
Log in or create a free account to personalize, save, and track this activity.
Or discover more about TopParent at topparent.ai
Description
Your child designs and builds a working contraption out of cardboard, such as a small catapult or a marble run, then tests it and improves the design.
What to prep
- cardboard
- tape
- glue_stick
- scissors
- rubber_bands
- launch_object
Play guide
- 1Agree on what the contraption should do, such as flinging a pom-pom or rolling a marble from top to bottom.
- 2Have your child sketch a rough plan and gather the cardboard and bits they will need.
- 3They cut and join the pieces with tape or glue to build a first version, with an adult handling any tricky cuts.
- 4Test it and watch what happens, then ask your child what one change might make it work better.
- 5Make that one change, test again, and repeat, keeping the versions so they can see the progress.
Success signals
Your child sketches or describes a plan before building. They test the build and name a specific change rather than rebuilding at random. A later version works better than the first at the agreed task
If it's tricky
The build keeps collapsing: Help reinforce joints with extra tape or a cardboard brace rather than starting over. Child is frustrated that version one does not work: Remind them that testing and changing is the whole point, and celebrate the first small improvement. Cutting thick cardboard is too hard or risky: The adult does those cuts while the child directs where