This October, Ms. Schurman’s Kindergarten class began their once-a-month IDEA lessons with Mrs. Garrett. The IDEA program is designed to help students start thinking like engineers. During their first lesson, students were introduced to the steps of the Engineering Design Process through the anchor text The Little Red Fort. After reading, they applied what they learned by creating their own forts out of cups.

Each student was given ten cups and challenged to design and build a fort using the five steps of the process: Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve. Students explored different ideas, asked thoughtful questions, and discovered that there were many ways to make their designs work. The activity encouraged creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration—there were no “wrong answers.” Every student was proud to share their unique creation, making it a wonderful start to the year’s engineering adventures!