Introduction to Engineering – Kindergarten

This week I introduced STEM to the Kindergarten students. They are excited to begin our journey this year. I introduced the topic of STEM and what it means. I decided to start with an activity that would give them the experience of engineering. I read a book called The Most Magnificent Thing. This book is about a girl who likes to build things and she has an idea of a great thing she wants to build. Unfortunately, after many tries, she can’t get it right. She ends up getting very mad and wants to quit. After looking back at all the “failed” attempts, she uses those to help her finally make the magnificent thing. By reading this book, I wanted to be sure they understood that the things they make will likely not turn out the way they had hoped. In engineering, it is very likely that they will need to make changes to their creation. They were given a bag of building materials and asked to take them and build anything they could imagine. Some of them made towers and cities and others made coffee makers and lemonade stands.