Ingredients:
- Minimum of 6-8 kids
- Eggs: one per team plus two extras
- Thin straws: enough for approximately 50 per team
- Duct tape
- Safety scissors
- Paper towels
Recipe for Playful Learning:
Each team must work together to build a “structure” that can protect a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a specific height.
STEP 1: Divide the children into teams and provide each team with the ingredients: one egg, 50 thin straws and 3 feet of duct tape.
STEP 2: Communicate to the teams that this activity challenge has no “rules.”
STEP 3: Start with a time limit of 15 minutes for the first attempt.
STEP 4: Children will begin by communicating their ideas and plans to each other to construct the best egg protector.
STEP 5: When time is up, cover the floor with paper towels and ask each team to drop their egg from a pre-determined height (i.e., 10ft.) and see which group’s structure doesn’t break.
STEP 6: Should more than one team succeed in protecting their egg, the winner will be determined by the fewest straws used.
MODIFICATIONS:
- Repeat the activity by increasing the height of the drop each time to see where the “breaking” point is.
- Depending upon the age of the children, you can always add a challenge to race the clock to see which team can finish first.
Skills to Practice: Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Math, Communication
STEAM Focus: Engineering, Math
This play activity was submitted by Happy Camper Live.