What the experts say…
STARTING EARLY WITH TOMORROW’S ENGINEERS
Comment by education journalist SAL MCKEOWN
L
ast time I wrote about engineering in early years and primary schools I had a wealth of case studies. Not so now. In England, it seems to have disappeared and is now just part of STEM. However, engineering as a subject in its own right seems to be thriving in Scotland. There are projects for nurseries and primary , as well as exhibitions and activities for young children in museums, galleries and universities. This Autumn, Aberdeen Science Centre is running Mission Engineer. It focuses on the story of the Three Little Pigs, and the chance to build houses from straw, sticks and bricks, alongside a Tinker Lab where children can chose from a mix of building materials including K’Nex, Lego, cardboard, paper and recyclable materials. Scotland even has an online early years engineering self-study course for just £30. I interviewed Dr. Helen Bridle, Associate Professor in the School of Engineering & Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University. She is the person behind Let’s Do Engineering, a website packed with ideas, resources, and engineering challenges. The site was a spin off from her research but the initial spur to action came when she took her two year old son to a science fair and found there was little to do. Since then, she has worked with schools and nurseries, engineers and teachers to produce practical activities relevant to the interests and ages of the children.
Essentially what we’re trying to do in engineering is to solve a problem, to make somebody’s life better,’ she explained. One example is Elsie the Engineer Throws a Party, available free on YouTube. Children watch as Elsie tries to put together a machine to provide juice on tap. It is a silent film so there are no language issues and the children can join
in as they spot the problems: ‘Oh no, the water can’t go up the tube!’ –’Oh no, a leak!’ – ‘Oh no, the water is stuck!’. As a follow up activity, the children can design a machine that makes tasty food or drink. Like adult engineers, they must define the problem, come up with possible solutions, test, refine and test again. While they might not reach a perfect solution, the process teaches children a lot and develops their thinking skills.
In primary and early years, a teacher doesn’t need to be an expert to do engineering. A great starting point is taking old electronics or toys to pieces, encouraging children to examine the parts and discuss what they do. Another strategy is using familiar stories as a springboard for design challenges. For example, why not take inspiration from The Tale of Peter Rabbit and task children with building a fence robust enough to keep Peter out of Mr McGregor’s garden, or designing a functioning trampoline to aid his escape? Engineering isn’t just construction, hula- hooping lets children explore the concept of orbits and how satellites or other bodies travel around. This physical activity provided a dynamic, hands-on way to demonstrate the principles behind space engineering.
Confounding stereotypes
Helen found that by the time young children enter school they begin to associate boys with science and intelligence. ‘Some research in nurseries shows that boys will dominate the resources. Even when girls try to build things they will be taken over by the boys.’ Helen’s materials include a book Wonderful Amy, which tells the story of Amy Johnson, the famous British pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from the UK to Australia. Children learn a song, make a model aeroplane and find out about Sarah Cooper, an Electrical Engineer who designs radar and laser systems to help pilots spot and avoid objects in the sky. Kristen Petrie introduced engineering at Dunnikier Primary School in Fife. She has a science background but found it difficult to teach engineering to younger primary school pupils. Resources were limited and those they did have, such as those from Fife College, were aimed at primary sixes and seven. Discovering the Let’s Do Engineering programme was a turning point. One challenge was finding resources that showed diversity in engineering, instead of white men in hard hats. A school STEM team had searched for images and books depicting different genders and cultures but found nothing suitable. Their art specialist created cards with gender- and race-neutral stick figures to represent different engineering specialisms. These have now been incorporated into Let’s Do Engineering. They depict 20 professions and show the wide variety of areas in which engineers work - from deep sea corals to outer space, from things too small to see to gigantic constructions.
The cards are a good introduction to diversity in engineering. But there are other effective approaches schools could adopt. As part of Young STEM Leaders, older students from the high school visit the primary school to deliver activities who provide good role models for younger pupils. Children in the nursery were excited to meet a former pupil who came in to talk about her job in engineering. The school also maintains a database of parents with STEM jobs willing to talk to students. One parent volunteered as a STEM ambassador and other visitors included engineers and even local coffee shop owners who demonstrated the journey of coffee from bean to cup.
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www.education-today.co.uk November 2025
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