Design & Engineering for Kids

Solve problems, plan out ideas, build and test prototypes, and see how they change over time in your personal portfolio! What will you make with Design Squad Maker?

DESIGN SQUAD MAKER APP FEATURES

- Create unlimited design projects

- Add sketches, photos, and notes

- Save progress in an editable portfolio

- Watch animated videos explaining the engineering design process

- Walk through each step of the design process with a friendly host

- Use tips and reflection questions throughout to support children's learning

- Check out example project ideas

- Find ideas for families to work together

- Try quick activities to supplement design projects at home

- Use at home and as part of Design Squad Maker workshops around the country

- Aligned with STEM curriculum concepts

- Co-developed with researchers and families

- No in-app purchases

- No advertising

The Design Squad Maker app was rigorously researched and developed for use at home and in maker space settings. Its open-ended, hands-on approach gives kids control over their own learning, encouraging them to identify problems that matter to them and develop solutions. In addition, when kids solve problems, they learn STEM concepts, practice thinking critically and creatively, gain experience using tools and materials, and learn perseverance when things don’t go as planned.

ABOUT DESIGN SQUAD MAKER

This app was created as part of Design Squad Maker, a program that engages children and their caregivers in the engineering design process in museums, community maker spaces, and at home. Together, kids ages 8–11 and their caregivers come up with problems that they want to solve, brainstorm solutions, build prototypes, and test them to see how they work. They experience the same steps that engineers use to solve real-world problems.

PRIVACY

GBH Kids and Design Squad Maker are committed to creating a safe and secure environment for children and families and to being transparent about what information is collected from users.

The Design Squad Maker app collects anonymous, aggregated analytics data for the purpose of improving the app experience—for example, determining which features are more popular in general. No personally identifiable data is collected. Photos taken during the use of this app are stored locally on your device as part of the explicit functionality of the app. The app does not send or share these photos anywhere. GBH KIDS does not see any photos taken by this app.

To learn more about Design Squad Maker's privacy policy, visit https://pbskids.org/designsquad/blog/design-squad-maker/

FUNDERS AND CREDITS

© 2022 WGBH Educational Foundation. Design Squad Maker is produced by GBH Boston and the New York Hall of Science. Design Squad Maker and its logo are copyrights of WGBH Educational Foundation. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1811457. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.