The playful engineers enabled ethnically diverse young people to have their voices heard and engineering solutions celebrated in public exhibitions. Through engineering design workshops, 105 children from across 2 primary schools, one autistic school and one scouts group in south London created rainwater gardens and solar panels in their school playground. During 15 interactive workshops, they applied engineering knowledge, sustainability principles, mathematics and creativity to draw and model their solutions in teams. They learnt to use Tinkercad 3D modelling software and tactile materials to create 3D prototypes of their designs. During the workshops, they also had opportunities to ask engineers about their careers and how they became engineers. Each team presented their final designs to their peers, professional volunteers and teachers in a design review and gained experience in communicating their ideas as junior engineers. The project cumulated in a fantastic public exhibition of their journey through the engineering design process and their final designs.
The exhibitions were held next to a busy High street and inside a retail store. Parents, children and teachers attended an opening ceremony. They were able to see 3D printed models of the children's designs, dress up as superhero engineers by a selfie wall, see the children’s designs and learn more about engineering through ‘this is engineering posters.’. The parents expressed how much they had learnt about how engineering improves lives and were proud of all the children had achieved. Members of the public were seen taking photos of the exhibition and interacting with the content. For example, in the Bromley exhibition, they decorated wooden cutouts and added them to the display. They also voted on what excited them most about the exhibition, with many of them voting ‘how engineering improves lives’ or ‘children designing a better & more sustainable future’.
An online version of the exhibitions has also been created, so that people who were unable to attend the physical exhibitions can engage with it
The feedback from the children has been amazing, with one 14-year-old Ashley stating ‘“It wasn’t good it, was amazing!”, 9 year old Paige said “My favourite part was modelling and using Tinkercad it was really fun and interesting.” Another 9-year-old Ade shared how he “enjoyed designing because it’s fun and creative” The teachers also shared how much the children had grown in confidence as result of the programme and through seeing their designs exhibited.
Equally, the 18 engineers, designers and architects who came together to support children during the workshops shared how much they valued seeing the children learn about engineering and sustainability. While also gaining the confidence to design through playful learning and designing activities. The engineers learnt how to break down subjects to children and express their own creativity, while working with the other volunteers. They also gained experience in presenting engineering content and feedback in a manner that was easy to understand.
