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Little girl building with blocks.

There’s more to creating block towers than it may seem. When young children start to stack and build, they’re learning about stability, balance, and measurement — and when the blocks topple over we have the opportunity to talk about problem-solving and persistence. We can inspire young architects and engineers by encouraging a natural curiosity about how things work, observing sizes, shapes, and colors, and setting up investigations by asking questions like “what might happen if…?”

Tips for Building STEM Skills

Questions to Ask Your Child

  1. I’m excited to see you build with the cups/blocks/toys. How will you build with them?
  2. When building with blocks, use measurement words to get your child thinking like an engineer. What might happen if we build a thin, tall tower? What if we build a wide, short tower? Which tower will be sturdier? How might we build a tall, sturdy tower?
  3. Talk about what to do if a project or build doesn’t go as planned. What might happen if our tower falls over or our paper plane doesn’t fly? What should we do?

Activities to Build Engineering and Problem-Solving Skills

  • Includes video.
    Play Ball Obstacle Course
    30 min activity

    Celebrate the fun of gravity, height, and motion while you create a recyclable-materials obstacle course.

  • Step It Out

    Help Malik, Zadie, and Zeke put the steps in order to make sandwiches, serve snacks, get ready for the beach, and build sand castles.

  • 10 Early Learning Books About Forces and Motion

    This booklist for ages 4-8 includes both fiction and non-fiction books that focus on the physical science concepts of motion and forces such as pushes and pulls, gravity, and friction.

  • Road Repair

    Zeke and Snout are decorating the Treeborhood! Use shapes to fill holes in the road so they can get across and complete their mission.

  • Hamster Run

    In this game, your child can help Ruff Ruffman use blocks, wedges, and tubes to build a structure that will allow hamsters to reach the carrot.

  • Bridge-a-rama

    In this game, your child can practice math and engineering skills by identifying the length of materials needed to complete a series of bridges.

  • Build an Aqueduct
    30 min activity

    Find out how to build a homemade aqueduct using cereal boxes and other recyclable materials.

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