The engineering design process is the method engineers use to get from a problem to something that works. TeachEngineering defines it as a series of steps that guides teams as they solve problems, repeated as many times as needed while they learn from failure4. In one line: make it, test it, make it better.
If your child brought home a worksheet with a circle of arrows, this is that circle. Think of this as an introduction to engineering design for parents: a definition, why schools show different numbers of steps, each stage at your kitchen table, and one complete build.
What is the engineering design process?
Start with the word itself. The word engineer comes from the Medieval Latin verb ingeniare, which means to design or devise1. Engineering and designing were the same word from the start.
Two engineering educators, Moussa Ayyash and Kimberly Black, describe how the work begins: engineering practice starts by
embracing the idea that there is an important problem that needs to be solved1
Then engineers collect information about what the design must do, work out how, plan, build and test, imagining "what-if" failures along the way, and repeat1. To define the engineering design process for a child in one sentence: "Engineers solve problems by trying, testing and fixing, over and over."
Engineering design process steps: why 5, 6 or 7?
Search for the steps and you will find circles with five, six or seven boxes. That is normal. Engineering is Elementary, a program of the Museum of Science in Boston, says many variations exist and that it made a simpler version with fewer steps and kid words6. Educator Ann Gadzikowski says design thinking has no single definition either2.
| Version | Steps | Step names | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preschool adaptation | 4 | Find a problem, imagine, create a prototype, improve | Preschoolers, adapted from the 5-step model9 |
| Engineering is Elementary | 5 | Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Improve | Young children6 |
| NASA BEST | 6 | Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Experiment, Improve | Students and teachers5 |
| The Engineering Place, NC State | 6 | Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Evaluate, Share | K-12 outreach7 |
| TeachEngineering | 7 | Ask, Research, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test, Improve | K-12 classrooms4 |
| Design thinking (Gadzikowski) | 7 | Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test and seek feedback, Improve, Share | Early childhood classrooms2 |
What never changes: every version starts with a question, has a build step and a test, and loops back to improve. The 7-step versions split steps apart: TeachEngineering adds Research4, Gadzikowski adds Share2. The 5 step engineering design process folds testing into Create: "Follow your plan and create it. Test it out!"6. Whichever engineering design procedure your child's school uses, the logic is the same.
The 6 step engineering design process we use below
For kids 5-10 we like NASA's six steps because testing (NASA calls it Experiment) gets its own box5. NASA uses the last step, Improve, to show that the process is a cycle and designs get revised over time5.
Stages of the engineering design process, with kid examples
Here is each stage when a child does it. The running example: a bridge so toy cars can cross a gap between two book stacks.
-
01Ask
What is the problem, what have others done, what are the constraints6? "Cars must cross the gap. Only cardboard and tape."
-
02Imagine
Brainstorm ideas, then pick one6. A flat strip? Folded sides? An arch underneath?
-
03Plan
Draw a diagram and list the materials6, with the gap measured in hand-widths.
-
04Create
Building a prototype makes your ideas real4. Tape the strip across the gap.
-
05Experiment
Measure and test whether the design worked5. Add cars one at a time and count.
-
06Improve
Talk about what works and what could work better, change it, test again6.
Engineers follow the steps in order, one through six.
Practicing engineers do not follow a rigid order. The process can begin at any step and move back and forth many times6.
Building something is enough. The steps take care of the learning.
A bridge built only by trial and error, without thinking about the forces holding it up, leaves kids less able to adapt when it fails3. The talk after each test is part of the process.
For what to say at each stage, and what to do when a build collapses, see our guide to the engineering design loop at home. Here we stay with the steps and one full example.
Engineering design process examples: a cardboard bridge, start to finish
Bridges make a good first project because the result is easy to count. Building sturdy structures is named as a fitting engineering concept for kindergarten, tied to the science and math of forces1.
The two-book-stack bridge
- 2 equal stacks of books, a ruler's length apart
- Cardboard strips, cut by an adult
- Masking tape
- 6 to 10 toy cars of one kind
- Paper and pencil
- Adult supervision: an adult cuts all cardboard.
- Ask: say the challenge out loud. "Cross the gap, use only cardboard and tape, hold as many cars as possible." Those are your criteria and constraints.
- Imagine: your child sketches two different bridge ideas. No building yet.
- Plan: pick one sketch. Count out the strips and tape you will need.
- Create: build version 1 and tape the ends to the book stacks.
- Experiment: add cars to the middle one at a time until it touches the table. Write down the number.
- Improve: before you rebuild, ask "Where did it bend first? Why there?" Change one thing only, then test again the same way.
The science to talk about after test 1
Push down on the middle of a flat bridge and two things happen at once. TeachEngineering's bridge lesson for grades 6-8 shows that the top of a loaded beam gets squeezed together while the bottom gets stretched apart8. Engineers call the squeeze compression and the stretch tension8.
An arch works differently: the weight is carried outward along the curve to the supports at each end8. If your child built an arch, ask, "Where is the weight going now?" Then let them predict whether folding the sides up helps, and test it.
You do not need to know the answer. The test will tell you both.
| Version | What we changed | Prediction | Cars held | Better or worse? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXAMPLE: v2 | Folded both sides up | More cars | 5 | Better |
| v1 | Nothing, first try | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| v2 | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
The chart is the real lesson. Ayyash and Black stress that the design approach depends on repeating the steps1, and Stohlmann, Roehrig and Moore explain why the repeat matters:
Redesign is an important phase of the engineering design cycle as engineers learn from failure.1
They describe middle schoolers designing a cardboard chair to hold up to 200 pounds: sketches, a scale model, a test with a chance to redesign, then the full-size chair1. Same steps, bigger build.
What the design has to do to count as working.
Say it: “What does our bridge need to do?”A rule or limit, like which materials you can use6.
Say it: “What are we not allowed to use?”An early version you build to test an idea4.
Say it: “What did this prototype teach us?”A push that squeezes something shorter8.
Say it: “Which part is getting squished?”A pull that stretches something longer8.
Say it: “Which part is getting stretched?”What to expect by age
Can: Build sturdy structures, the engineering concept matched to kindergarten. By first grade, add motion, prediction and estimation1.
Try: Use the 5-step version6. Count cars on fingers, change one thing, count again.
Can: Run all six steps, fill in the results chart and explain a failure with words like compression and tension8.
Try: Set a number goal, like "hold 8 cars," and keep each version on the table to compare.
Frequently asked questions
What are the engineering design steps?
Most versions run Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test and Improve. NASA calls the test step Experiment5, and TeachEngineering adds Research after Ask4. Every version loops back to improve.
What is the 5 step engineering design process?
It is the version Engineering is Elementary made for young children: Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Improve. Testing happens inside Create and again inside Improve6. A 2018 article in Young Children describes adapting it into four steps for preschoolers9.
How do you explain the engineering design process to a child?
Say: "Engineers find a problem, think of ideas, build one, test it, and make it better." Then do one small build together, and go around the loop more than once, because the process can be used again and again6.
What makes a good engineering design project for a science fair?
Pick a problem with a result you can count, like cars a bridge holds, and show every version with its number. The national science framework describes engineers comparing alternatives with test data and revising their designs1.
Keep exploring
- The Engineering Design Loop at Home What to say at each step, and what to do when a build collapses.
- Science fair board and the scientific method How a science experiment differs from a design project.
If you want a kit for this
A cereal box and tape are enough for every step above. If you want sturdy pieces made for building, testing and rebuilding, this is our cardboard kit.
Build it with / Ages 5-7STEM Cardboard Construction KitKid-safe tools turn any box into a machine.$42.99GoP Toys sells the kit mentioned above. None of the sources cited tested our products.