Engineering is play for some kids. Building LEGOS is engineering. Stacking blocks is engineering. Constructing dams for sandcastles is engineering. Arranging the traffic flow of Matchbox cars is engineering.
Design Squad Nation is a new PBS Kids series which is a spin-off of the award-winning Design Squad series. Its main goal is to get kids excited about science and engineering. It shows children that science goes beyond the laboratory and can be seen everywhere. When I was a kid, the PBS science show “3-2-1 Contact” did the same for me. Hosts Adam and Judy “work with kids to make their dreams come true through engineering.”
My 9 year old and 5 year old watched the DIY Playground episode with me. I know the point of the program is to show that engineering is fun, but this particular episode is also a perfect example of every kids need for play. It begins with a 15 year old boy in a small village in Nicaragua who dreams of a playground for his village. The Design Squad designs and builds a new playground based on input from the local school children. It is a three day build and we were riveted watching every member of the village work together to accomplish this feat of engineering. After it’s completed one of the children says: “We just want to play. We’ll never want to leave.” I got the biggest kick watching the villagers play on the new merry-go-round. Every generation takes part in building the playground and the play experience seems more meaningful. My kids loved the music and the entire presentation. The next day, my son had his ruler out to build a scale model of a building out of LEGOS.
The show’s website provides tons of interactive activities families can do at home. For instance, at the end of the DIY Playground episode, the hosts Adam and Judy challenge viewers to find a way for a ping pong ball to travel down a zipline in less than 4 seconds using household items.
Take a peek and watch the hosts make magic happen (DIY Playground episode). They say: “If you can dream it; you can build it.” See the show on KOCE Channel 50 (PBS Kids SoCal) on Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. I prefer to watch episodes online and get ideas for simple engineering projects to do as a family.
More links:
- Design Squad Nation
- Full episodes of Design Squad Nation can be found on the website and You Tube pages
- Tons of activities, projects, resources, how to videos kids can do at home
- Project Page – kids are encouraged to come up with their own engineering dream
- YouTube videos: https://youtube.com/user/DesignSquadNation
Build Big Contest
The hosts of Design Squad Nation are asking kids to think big and build bigger with the BUILD BIG Contest. Design Squad Nation invites teams of kids, their teachers, parents, grandparents, neighbors, and friends to super size Design Squad’s hands-on activities, make a video, and enter the Build Big Contest.
