Kid Architecture – Marble Maze

Kid Architecture is a series we have started at Dig Design, setting activities for young minds and inspiring the next generation of architects, designers and engineers. Marble Maze is an activity that will activate their creativity, engage their problem solving capabilities and lets face it … is lots of fun.

How complex will make your maze?

Equipment

You’ll need:

• Cardboard, an old box is perfect.
• Cutting Mat, or something to cut on.
• Metal Ruler.
• Cuttling Blade.
• Scissors.
• Pencil.
• PVA Glue.
• Marble.

Step 01

Measure and cut the base for your Marble Maze.

Ideally, get a grown up to cut the base using the metal ruler and the cutting blade for a clean edge.

If your grown up says its OK for you to cut the cardboard, DO NOT use the blade and ruler method, just use scissors … it will be safer.

Then cut strips of cardboard to construct the walls of your maze. Again, get a grown up to use the blade and ruler method for sharp edges, they will be easier to glue onto the base.

** HINT ** Suggest your grown up cuts the wall strips the width of the metal ruler, it will be easier for them.

Step 02

Rule out a grid on your base, north-south and east-west.

This will give you lines to glue your walls along.

Step 03

Firstly, glue a wall around the perimeter of the board. The perimeter, is the outer edge or an object (in this case your base).

Measure and cut your walls, using the grid to guide you. You can use scissors here if your carboard isn’t too thick.

Glue them into place, don’t forget to glue both the base of the wall and the end of any wall that meets another.

** HINT ** Don’t forget to make sure there is a path of travel, but it is more fun if you have some blocked pathways too. You can draft a maze on a piece of paper first to make sure it works.

Step 04

Mark start and finish points in your maze.

You could use markers, coloured paper, write the words, or office junior used coloured stickers (from Kmart), he put a different colour in each corner.

TaDa

Put your marble in and make it travel from start to finish by tilting the maze left-right-up-down.

You could time your runs with a stop watch.

You could make your marble travel to different points in the maze in a set order.

Office Junior James’s Learnings

Get a grown up to do the cutting if you want to use the blade and ruler method, you have a really nice clean edge that way. Don’t try this method yourself, it’s really easy to cut your fingers … ouch!

I thought the maze was too easy, so I’m going to add some extra blocking pieces to it.

You can try different shapes too, it doesn’t have to be a square.

You could also try different objects in the maze that you have to navigate, milk bottle lids that kind of thing.

We’d Love to See Your Creations

Email us a photo of your Marble Maze once you’ve finished … hello@digdesign.net.au

HAVE FUN!

Kid Architecture – Paper Bag Buildings

Kid Architecture is a series we have started at Dig Design, setting activities for young minds and inspiring the next generation of architects, designers and engineers. Paper Bag Buildings is an activity that will flex their creativity muscles whilst teaching them to look for shapes colours and textures within everyday images and lets face it … is lots of fun.

Will you build a single detailed Paper Bag Building, or an entire city?

Equipment

You’ll need:

• Paper bags.
• Old magazines (make sure you ask first if they’re OK to cut up).
• Scissors.
• Felt markers.
• Glue stick.

Step 01

Cut all the handles from the paper bags.

Step 02

Cut the pages of the magazines into shapes you can use to make building elements like doors, windows, fences etc.

You can look for colours or textures, even objects or shapes that you’d like to use on your buildings.

Pictures of people for in the windows can look pretty cool.

Step 03

Turn the bags upside down, the base of the bag will form the roof of your building.

Try different layouts for your paper bag buildings with the paper shapes you have cut out.

Flex your creativity muscle and come up with a few different options.

Step 04

Glue your paper shapes onto the paper bag.

Use your felt marker to add details.

You can cut the door to to make it openable.

TaDa

Open your paper bag building so that it can stand on it’s own.

Place your paper bag buildings together and create a neighbourhood … or even a city!!

Here is Office Junior James and his Paper Bag Building neighbourhood.

We’d Love to See Your Creations

Email us a photo of your Paper Bag Building once you’ve finished … hello@digdesign.net.au

HAVE FUN!

Kid Architecture – Spaghetti Structures

Kid Architecture is a series we have started at Dig Design, setting activities for young minds and inspiring the next generation of architects, designers and engineers. Spaghetti Structures is an activity that will activate their creativity, engage their engineering and problem solving capabilities and lets face it … is lots of fun.

How tall can you build your Spaghetti Structure?

Equipment

You’ll need:

• Marshmallows (yum).
• Spaghetti, uncooked.

Ideally you’ll let your marshmallows dry out for a couple of days.

However, if your marshmallows can’t be left out in the open for fear of being eaten, or you just can’t wait, it will still work using fresh marshmallows.

Office Junior James has used fresh marshmallows to create his Spaghetti Structure below.

Step 01

Start creating your Spaghetti Structure by pushing the spaghetti into the marshmallows to form your base.

Q. Do you know what the strongest shape is?

A. The triangle!

Triangles are common in all types of building supports, but don’t take it from us … try using different shapes in your Spaghetti Structure and see which you think is the most stable.

Step 02

Take it 3D. You might need to widen your base to support your Spaghetti Structure, then just build as high as you can!

Let your only restriction be time.

TaDa

Office Junior James and his Spaghetti Structure.

Extension

You could challenge yourself further by setting eggs within your structure to see how it handles the weight.

Here is happy egg guy “Jeff” in his Spaghetti Structure home.

How many eggs can your Spaghetti Structure support?

We’d Love to See Your Creations

Email us a photo of your Spaghetti Structure once you’ve finished … hello@digdesign.net.au

HAVE FUN!