Seriously — LEGO Engineering for Kids?

Kids already are natural builders. Give them LEGOS, facilitation, and information and watch as kids become engineers.

Actually, I never thought about engineering for kid until AJ (4th grade) took a Play-Well Engineering FUNdamentals class after school, which she loves. It got me thinking about all the ways to learn about engineering – and, you know I love to research and learn so I’ve gathered some great resources to share with you!

LEGO Engineering

But, let’s start with the Play-Well Engineering FUNdamentals Class. In the class I observed, AJ learned about pneumatics and made a claw. (Admittedly, I didn’t even know the word pneumatics – am I smarter than a 4th grader? Ha.)

I won’t share the secrets of the Play-Well classes but I’ll tell you that the claws were really amazing.

The kids experimented picking up things and then had a relay race.

I loved the learning, the collaboration, the experimenting, and the fun!

You do this kind of LEGO engineering exploration at home or in your own community, too. Here’s how.

Engineering at Home

• Go to LEGO Education and see what education sets you can purchase.
• Radio Shack has many kits which involve building and engineering.
• Funutation classes
• Play-Well also offers birthday parties and other events.
• RoX app teaches strategy in building shapes.

Engineering Books For Kids

Engineering the ABCs by Patty O’Brien Novak

The Way Things Work 

Steven Caney’s Ultimate Building Book

Engineering the City: How Infrastructure Works 

The Curious Adventures of Sydney and Symon in: Water Wonders

Engineering Competitions

Future Cities Competition – 6th, 7th, and 8th graders compete to plan a city.

Math Counts – a national math enrichment program and competition.

Invent It. Build It. – Girl Scouts and Aspire

Engineering Learning Resources

Society of Women Engineers: Aspire – resources for K-12 students.

Engineering Education Service Center – Outreach and hands-on activities in engineering.

A World in Motion – bringing STEM in the classroom.

Alice from Carnegie Mellon – educational software that teaches computer programming in a 3D programming environment

Scratch from MIT – a programming language for everyone to create interactive stories, games, music, and art

FisherTechNik – a construction toy brand that teaches engineering through play.

Aren’t these cool resources?

What do you think about engineering for kids?