Engineering activity
Egg Drop Challenge
Protect a plastic egg or ball from breaking when dropped by wrapping it in different materials. Test what protects it best!
Materials and setup
- egg
- cotton balls
- straws
- tape
- bubble wrap
- rubber bands
How this changes by age
Pre-K (ages 3–4)
Protect a plastic egg or ball from breaking when dropped by wrapping it in different materials. Test what protects it best!
Steps
- Use a plastic egg or ping pong ball as your 'egg.'
- Gather soft materials: cotton balls, bubble wrap, fabric scraps, paper towels.
- Wrap the egg in one material at a time and drop from waist height.
- Check if the egg is protected each time. Which material worked best?
- Try combining materials. Does more padding always mean more protection?
- Tell a grown-up one thing that surprised you.
Learning objectives
- Explore how different materials absorb impact
- Compare outcomes of simple experiments
- Understand the concept of protection and cushioning
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
Design a container to protect a real egg dropped from shoulder height. Choose from provided materials and test your design.
Steps
- Hard-boil an egg (parent does this step).
- Available materials: cotton balls, straws, rubber bands, small box, bubble wrap, newspaper.
- Design a protective container. Draw your idea first.
- Build the container and place the egg inside.
- Drop from shoulder height onto a hard surface. Did the egg survive?
- If it cracked, what could you change? Rebuild and try again.
- Tell a grown-up one thing that surprised you.
Learning objectives
- Design a protective structure using available materials
- Understand that impact force can be distributed and absorbed
- Practice the build-test-improve cycle
Early elementary (ages 6–8)
Engineer an egg protection device with a budget constraint. Each material has a 'cost' — build the cheapest device that protects the egg from a 6-foot drop.
Steps
- Assign costs: straws (1 coin each), cotton balls (2 coins each), tape (1 coin per foot), bubble wrap (3 coins per sheet), rubber bands (1 coin each). Budget: 15 coins.
- Design your device on paper. Calculate the total cost before building.
- Build the device and place a raw egg inside. IMPORTANT: drop outdoors or over a large plastic tarp, wear disposable gloves when handling raw egg (salmonella risk), and wash hands thoroughly after cleanup. If doing this indoors without a tarp, use a HARD-BOILED egg instead.
- Drop from 6 feet (off a step stool or deck). Did the egg survive?
- Record: total cost, whether egg survived, and what could be improved.
- Challenge: can you do it for under 10 coins?
- In one sentence, tell a parent or sibling what surprised you today.
Learning objectives
- Optimize a design within budget constraints
- Calculate material costs and make trade-off decisions
- Apply engineering principles of impact absorption and force distribution
Upper elementary (ages 8–10)
Design, build, and test an egg lander with specific constraints: maximum dimensions, material budget, and it must include a parachute or deceleration mechanism. Analyze the physics of the drop.
Steps
- Constraints: device must fit in a 6x6x6 inch cube, budget of 20 coins (same pricing as easier version), must include a parachute or other deceleration mechanism.
- Research: how do real spacecraft land safely? What principles can you apply?
- Design on paper with labeled dimensions. Calculate your budget.
- Build and test from 10 feet (second floor window or balcony — parent supervises). Drop onto a plastic tarp outdoors. Wear gloves when handling the raw egg (salmonella risk); wash hands thoroughly after. Use a hard-boiled or plastic egg for any indoor testing.
- Calculate: approximate drop time, impact speed (using d = 0.5 * g * t^2), and deceleration force.
- Write an engineering report comparing your predicted performance vs actual results.
- After your first attempt, write 2 sentences: What broke? Why? Then build version 2. After version 2, write 2 more sentences: What improved? What got worse? Real engineers expect to fail twice before succeeding.
- In one sentence, tell a parent or sibling what surprised you today.
Learning objectives
- Apply physics concepts (gravity, deceleration, force) to an engineering challenge
- Design within multiple simultaneous constraints (size, budget, mechanism requirement)
- Compare predicted vs actual engineering performance using calculations
Safety and evidence note
Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.
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