Grab one piece of paper (8.5 x11), a pair of scissors and a 5-inch strip of tape. See how tall a tower you can make that stands on its own. Compare with a friend or family member, at your house or virtually.

Bonus challenge: Do it WITHOUT tape!

Who is your personified friend during this time? Design a new friend out of a common household item. Get creative! Give it a name and a personality.

Build a treat delivery system for your pet. How far can you get the treat to travel? 3 feet? 6 feet? 10 or more?

Using a bouncy ball and less than four additional materials, design a device to make the ball NOT bouncy. Can you do it with three? Or two?

Build three or more paper airplanes of the same design but out of different kinds of paper. Which one flies best? Can you tweak them to fly farther?

Build a fort out of household items. What activities happen inside your fort? Is it a study space, a music studio, a tinkering lab, an Arctic research station? Link up your fort with someone else in your family.

Build a device that has at least five steps and ends moving a pencil as far as possible. Can you add five more steps? How about 10? Bonus challenge, get your pencil to “wave hello.”

Test your communication skills! Find a partner (in-person or virtual). Each of you should draw a simple picture and keep it secret. Take turns telling the other person what you drew in simple steps. See if your partner can recreate your drawing.

Using four sheets of paper, a 12” square of tinfoil, six plastic drinking straws/chopsticks/pencils and four paper or binder clips, engineer a device that can hold two plastic or paper cups as high up and as far away from each other as possible.

Make a board game larger than life. Add physical actions and life-sized pieces. Recreate it in your yard or living room. Show us how you play!