Inside: How engineering, building and making foster creativity in kids. Also included is an engineering activity for kids, how to make an Inflatable friend. The inflatable project was inspired by The Tech Interactive and is the second activity in the Creative Kids Mini Series. Click here to download the experiment to print and do at home!
My oldest son’s favorite way to be creative is through engineering, inventing, building, and making! He has been a maker before he knew how to walk!
Engineering and creativity go hand in hand. Engineering needs creativity to provide breakthroughs during the design phase.
In an abstract by David, H. Cropley of the University of South Australia on Creativity in Engineering, he states, “Creativity is the fundamental element of Engineering. Creativity is concerned with the generation of effective, novel solutions to problems, while Engineering, and Engineering Design has a similar goal, focused on technological solutions.”
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My kids love doing engineering activities for kids. However, something I’ve noticed is that when they have more access to screens (any including television, computers, tablets, video games), the less they want to make and create. The attitudes and anger often come in full force as well. This is why we have a zero TV rule M-F and Minecraft only gets played on the weekend.
Because of this, we are teaching our kids how to use the computer as a tool. When used to design, research, or engineer a project, their nervous systems don’t get as overloaded and they don’t spend as much mindless time on a screen. It’s more mind-full time!
Another thing I’ve noticed is that the project cannot be my idea!
Do you know anyone like that?
So instead, I keep the materials in an easy-to-access location in our house and I may suggest a project, but then don’t mention it again (which is super hard for me to do)!
Side Note: I recently came across UCode which a company that offers coding classes for kids! If you have kids like mine who are very interested in all things STEM and coding, you should check them out. And if you’re reading this during the summer, they have a ton of summer camps like Python Plus Camp and Animation Camp.
Table of Contents
Engineering Activities For Kids
Let’s unpack what engineering activities for kids are.
An engineer is a person who not only builds something but also designs and maintains everything from machines, engines, structures, and the environment.
When engineering is introduced to kids, it needs to be developmentally appropriate.
Help your child take big concepts and pare those concepts down to simpler ideas that they can create, implement, review, and do all over again. With the rise of technology and STEAM and STEM curriculum, kids have been exposed to engineering at a much younger age so they can develop even more advanced skills early on.
Read Next: 4 Easy Steps For Teaching Life Skills to Kids
The Engineering Process For Kids
This doesn’t have to be a formal process but it is good for kids to understand that there is a process that engineers take when making or building something. It is iterative which means the different steps are repeated until the project is complete.
Also, while steps need to be revisited, the engineer makes improvements and learns through failure.
The Design Process Has 7 Parts:
- Define the problem
- Research the problem
- Brainstorm solutions
- Pick one solution and begin planning
- Create by building a prototype
- Test and evaluate
- Make improvements
This is such a great way to explain the engineer design process for kids!
How Engineer Projects Help Kids
While watching kids play, you can already see that they are natural-born engineers.
This is how kids discover their world.
Stacking a ton of blocks on top of each other to see what happens when it’s knocked over is one of the first ways kids explore how things work.
Two of my boys learned how to use a (real) screwdriver before they were three. They love to take things apart and figure out how to put them back together again. Actually, they are still like that!
When kids become curious and begin to design or make something, they learn so many skills. Engineering not only requires creativity but also applies the disciplines of math and science.
Once kids use their minds and hands to make something, they can see how these subjects are relevant to their everyday lives.
Lastly, kids often work with others in the engineering process. When this happens, they learn both collaboration and effective communication skills. All of these benefits and skills are crucial as our society moves forward with all its technological advances.
Read Next: The Best STEM Toys for Kids
Inflatable Project For Kids
This project was inspired by The Tech Interactive.
I stumbled across their site when researching hundreds of educational resources and websites for kids. I highly recommend you check out all they have to offer. Also, if you are ever near Silicon Valley, you should check out their physical Science Center. I can’t wait to go one day!
Bonus!!! If you’re looking for ways to entertain your kids that are educational or you need to supplement your education during temporary homeschooling, click here to receive The Ultimate Home Education Resource when subscribing to the Raising Kids With Purpose Newsletter.
I’ll walk you through the steps to make an inflatable friend or you can scroll to the bottom of this post to watch the Tech Interactive’s video that inspired us.
Materials:
- Plastic- grocery bags, garbage bags, shopping bags, bubble wrap (!) or any other kind of plastic that you can fill with air will work!
- Tape
- Scissors
- Sharpie
- Accessories – pipe cleaners, buttons, feathers, yarn, ribbons or anything else you would like to embelish your inflatable friend with
- A Fan or Blower
A great place to get materials if you don’t have them on hand is Dollar Tree.
How to Create An Inflatable Friend
Now the fun part!
Step 1: Prepare
Pull out all your materials and come up with an idea of how you are going to create a friend out of plastic. You can draw a design or simply discuss it.
On the Tech Interactive’s Instagram page, they had fans who made the COOLEST inflatable friends. One was taller than the little girl’s house and another was the ghost from Ghost Busters! I even saw a cactus friend. Now, that my friends, is creativity!
Step 2: Create
Start cutting and taping!
There will be trial and error during this step. Encourage your kids to use tape in different ways to figure out what works best to attach the plastic. Tech Interactive recommends using poster board or something thicker at the bottom to give the inflatable friend structural support.
We worked on this step for a while!
Step 3: Blow Up With Air
Fill your inflatable friend with AIR!
You can use a blow dryer, leaf blower, extra large fan or what we used was the fan for our indoor bounce house.
You may need to figure out where holes are in the plastic or materials you use in order to figure out how to get your inflatable friend to stay up. It took us a while, but when our friend finally stood tall, my son was SO excited. I was also excited because I caught his natural reaction on camera.
Step 4: Spread Joy to Your Neighbors
We put our inflatable friend outside in the driveway so it could waive to friends and neighbors to spread a little joy as this was during the stay at home orders. We had a few friends stop by and other neighbors smile big as they walked by.
Step 5: Discussion
After you are finished, end with some questions!
I love getting insight on what my kids’ favorite part was or what they would do differently. After reading Alfie Kohn’s book, Punishment By Rewards, I’m careful not to tell the kids, “Good Job”, but instead reflect on how they feel about what they created. I’m sure this helps raise creative kids as well as they won’t constantly be looking for other people’s approval through life.
Read Next: Why Praise Doesn’t Work to Motivate Kids and What To Do Instead
What We Did:
The boys watched the video from Tech Interactive on how to make an inflatable project then I asked what kind of materials they wanted me to help them gather. They decided to keep it simple but wanted to go tall and big!
We pulled out different colored grocery bags, scotch tape, yarn, sharpies and one of my sons grabbed fake money. Dollar Tree is a great place to check out too!
After the first round of cuts to the bags, my oldest son realized it was much easier to cut the sides of the bags so they could fully open, then tape from there.
My middle son was in charge of the face so he drew eyes, a mouth, and taped yarn for hair. Then he decided to put money in the friend’s hand that they later took off because of the added weight.
The last thing they did was add arms. They left the “hands” open so the air could flow out of them.
Once my boys’ inflatable friend was finished, it was time to blow him up!
The boys brainstormed what they could use for air. Pretty much at the same time they remembered the bounce house fan. It was a good size and blew a lot of air with a lot of force.
Plugging it into the garage outlet, the boys completed their inflatable project in our driveway for neighbors to see as I mentioned above. It took many tries to get our friend to stay standing because there were too many holes throughout the body. With perseverance, my son continued to use tape until he was successful.
Free Inflatable Friend Worksheet
If you would like to do this project and would rather print out instructions, you can download here! Or you can grab the printable from The Tech Interactive’s website; it has more educational content!
Happy Making!
Hello!!! I’m Adriane. I’m a mom to three loud boys, am a research-a-holic and very passionate person who writes at Raising Kids With Purpose. Parenting can feel so hard sometimes but with mindset shifts and understanding, it can be very enjoyable. My hope is to inspire parents like you to create lifelong connections with your children and enjoy the journey along the way!
Cristina says
This is such a cool idea. My son is still a little young to put this together but I do agree that they should start tinkering young.
Adriane (Raising Kids With Purpose) says
yes! My toddler got involved too and loved it!
Surabhi says
This is so amazing! Would love to see my toddler make this when he grows up.
Ngozi says
This looks like fun. I love the boundaries you have in your home regarding screen time. Thanks for sharing this activity
Adriane (Raising Kids With Purpose) says
Thanks!
Marysa says
This looks like a fun way to get creative with kids. I like that it is a good project to inspire imagination.
Jaiden says
A hilarious and clever book about a boy who has a flair for designing buildings from a young age (he built his first tower out of diapers and glue!). This one will inspire kids to design their own structures and experiment with different building materials.