Pre-K

60-minute workshop/$9 per student

Start Your Engineers Preschoolers will read a story, explore with materials and tools, and create a project. Two topics are available:

Wind Float objects in wind tubes and construct a sail car.
Bridges Engineer a bridge and create a bridge-building kit to take home.

Our Pre K workshops are intended for students who will be starting kindergarten the following fall (4 and 5 year olds). These workshops are not a good fit for children under 4 due to developing fine motor skills and small pieces that can be put in mouths. Please request these workshops ONLY for Pre K students.  Thank you!

Click here to view the Minnesota Early Childhood Indicators of Progress and Minnesota K-12 Science Standards/Benchmarks addressed in these workshops.

Kindergarten to Grade 2

30-minute workshops/$8.50 per student

Kaleidoscopes Investigate light reflection with mirrors. Build a unique and colorful kaleidoscope to take home.
NEW! Fling Flyers Become an aerospace engineer, and engineer your own aircraft catapult launching system similar to the ones found on the Navy’s aircraft carriers. When the plane is ready to go, send it flying! Great fit with Kindergarten and second grade standards.

60-minute workshops/$9 per student

Circuit Explore Learn about the flow of electricity and hook up different circuits to create a light to take home. Great fit with first grade standards.
Engineer with K’Nex Explore with our K’Nex building pieces. Practice sorting them and putting them together, then complete a building challenge. Great fit with second grade standards.
Light and Kaleidoscopes Experiment with reflecting and absorbing of light. Build and engineer a colorful kaleidoscope to take home.
Mini-Catapults Practice the Engineering Design Process and use a glue gun to construct a small catapult. Find out how far you can fling an object. Great fit with second grade standards.
Test Engineers Test different tools and materials, and use what you learn to figure out what tool works best with what material. Solve the mystery tool challenge. Great fit with first and second grade standards.
What Floats Your Boat? Explore buoyancy with different materials, then build your own boat. Evaluate and improve your design, just like a real engineer! Great fit with second grade standards.
NEW! Feel the Noise Start with vibrations and the science of sound. Explore patterns and relationships of sound created by different materials. Construct an ear harp to take home. Great fit with first grade standards.

90-minute workshops/$11.50 per student

Dwellings Learn how Dakota, Hmong, Mexican, Ojibwe, and Somali communities have traditionally engineered their homes. Investigate building techniques, experiment with materials, then design and create your own mini-dwelling. Great fit with second and fourth grade standards.

Grades 3-6

30-minute workshops/$8.50 per student

Kaleidoscopes Investigate light reflection with mirrors. Build a unique and colorful kaleidoscope to take home.
NEW! Fling Flyers Become an aerospace engineer, and engineer your own aircraft catapult launching system similar to the ones found on the Navy’s aircraft carriers. When the plane is ready to go, send it flying! Great fit with 5th grade standards.

60-minute workshops/$9 per student

Light and Kaleidoscopes Examine how light travels, changes direction, and is refracted. Build and engineer a colorful kaleidoscope to take home. Great fit with third and sixth grade standards.
Mini-Catapults Practice the Engineering Design Process and use a glue gun to construct a small catapult. Find out how far you can fling an object. Great fit with fourth grade standards.
Circuit Power How does electricity work? Experiment with the components of simple circuits: power, loads, wires, and switches. Test out ways that motors can be used, wire a circuit, and build your own motor-powered fan or wiggle bot to take home. Great fit with fourth grade standards.
Environmental Engineering Discover how engineers work to reduce erosion in the environment. Build a hillside out of dirt, then design an erosion mitigation plan using rocks, fabrics, wood, sand, and other materials. Test your design in a rain shower, then see if you can improve it. A great fit with fourth grade standards. This workshop was developed in partnership with our friends and engineers at Barr Engineering.
NEW! Momentum Pendulum Become a Mechanical Engineer and explore the physics of motion with marbles. Investigate how energy changes with speed when objects collide, then build and take home your very own Newton’s Cradle. Great fit with fifth grade standards.

90-minute workshops/$11.50 per student

Maze Engineering Use the Engineering Design Process to design and construct your own maze, pinball, or pachinko game. Experiment with changes in speed and direction and the effects of gravity and friction. Uses hot glue guns. Great fit with fifth and sixth grade standards.
Pasta Bridges Work in teams using pasta, hot glue, and the Engineering Design Process to build the strongest bridge you can. Test how much weight it can hold before it breaks. Great fit with fourth and sixth grade standards.
Dwellings Learn how Dakota, Hmong, Mexican, Ojibwe, and Somali communities have traditionally engineered their homes. Investigate building techniques, experiment with materials, then design and create your own mini-dwelling. Great fit with second and fourth grade standards.
Electromagnetism Discover the properties of electromagnetism by building an electromagnetic fishing pole and sorting game to take home. Great fit with fourth grade standards.