Building Brick Challenge: Build a Boat

What You Need:

• Building bricks of any size and shape

What You Do:

1. Ask your learner, “Can you build a boat out of building bricks?”
2. Encourage your child to make a plan. Ask, “How many bricks do you think you will need?” or “Do you want to draw a picture of your boat first?”
3. Give your child time to create their design. Ask, “Do you need help?” (They should ultimately be doing most of the building.)
4. Have designers play with their new design. Ask, “Do you think your boat will float in water?” Have them test their boat in the water.
5. After testing out the design, ask your learner what ways they can adjust their design. For example, “Is there anything you want to change about the boat?” or “What do you think you can do to make it float?”
6. Challenge designers to share their new designs. They can record a video, or write a few sentences about the design and include a drawing or picture of it. Prompt them to include details about the boat and any challenges they had while building it.

Amplify this challenge! Choose one or more of the following questions to add a new level of difficulty to the challenge:

• Can you make your boat float? (If it didn’t float before)
• Can you make your boat float with three toys in it?
• Can you time how long your boat stays afloat?