Whether you’re a classroom teacher, librarian, or family advocate, integrating engineering into your learning experiences for young children and their families can be a powerful way to build on family strengths and support all aspects of children’s development.
Download Free Resources
These activities for the home or classroom use imaginative stories to engage children and families with the engineering design process.
Try these quick ideas to explore the engineering process and integrate engineering into other learning topics inside or outside the classroom.
Use these posters to make engineering more visible and highlight connections to everyday problems solving.
The free, ready-to-use engineering activities above were developed through collaborative research with families and educators. If you enjoyed these activities, you can also explore the links below to find other ideas for integrating engineering more deeply into your programs.
Dive Deeper into Engineering
with Young Children and Families
Connect with everyday
problem solving
A powerful way to introduce engineering to young children and families is by making connections to the problem solving we all do in our everyday lives. Learn more about these connections and see examples of everyday engineering.
Add engineering to existing activities with children and families
Engineering complements and enhances the imaginative, play-based activities you already have developed for children and families. Read more about how educators have integrated this “playful engineering” approach.
Align with other child
and family goals
Engineering can support all aspects of children’s learning and help families achieve their goals—from reading, to emotions, to bilingual skills. See how engineering activities can align with early learning standards and hear from families about their experiences with engineering.
Support long-term
engagement
You can support long-term engagement with engineering for young children and families by connecting learning experiences over time across the home, classroom, and other settings. Get inspiration by learning more about the Head Start on Engineering Family Program.