Paper Engineering

Y3, Y4, Y5, Y6

2 weeks

Challenge your students to build something amazing with our paper engineering kit, which includes rolling sticks, super strong hole punches, tape and plenty of nuts and bolts. All you need to provide is A4 scrap paper and some inspiration…

Plenty of adult artists, engineers and architects have taken on similar challenges. Your class could look at the paper tower Shigeru Ban built for the London Design Festival (Ban has also built a paper bridge, houses and even a church!), the group of Lithuanian students who built a paper version of the Eiffel Tower or the paper bridge that Land Rover built to drive their SUV over in 2015.

Perfect for developing critical thinking skills, teamwork and resilience, paper engineering allows students to explore engineering concepts without worrying about wasting expensive materials if they get it ‘wrong’.

Lots of schools like to link this activity to their thematic learning, challenging students to work together to create towers, bridges or domes that can then be strength tested by adding weights or using a Newton meter (included) to pull down. We’ve also seen some great creative builds though, from usable football goals and thrones strong enough to sit on, to a yurt that the whole team could fit into!

Contact our schools team with any questions on [email protected]

Make a Booking Enquiry

Booking Enquiries

Schools Booking Enquiry

Name *

Email *

School Name *

Postcode *

Enquiry Area *

Other

Preferred date for our visit to your school

Our team is often booked up well in advance and we cannot guarantee a booking on a specific date through this enquiry form. Our team will be in touch to schedule your booking. Please give us any alternate preferred dates or date ranges, or exceptions (for example, "any week in term 3" or "not Tuesdays")

Science Oxford Centre

Bookings to visit the Science Oxford Centre are made via its own section of the website.
Book now

Big Science Event

Register for free

Primary School Shows and Workshops

Start of day (earliest we could start)

Lunchtime (including availability of the hall due to setup/cleaning if you use the hall for lunch)

End of day

We would usually expect one member of Science Oxford staff to be able to provide three activities in a day. Most of our shows are suitable for up to 60 children and most of our workshops for up to 30 children. We will create a draft timetable for you based on the information you provide below.

Select from our shows and workshops

Year Group

Activity

Number of children

Add another activity Remove this activity

For more information about any of our shows or workshops, please take a look at the list here. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a visit to your school with a member of our team, please email [email protected] or call us on 01865 810000, or add more information in the Comments section below. This is also recommended if you would like to book multiple days or presenters. A member of our team will be in touch shortly.

How did you hear about us? *

Other

Comments

I would like to receive Science Oxford Primary School newsletter and understand that I can opt out at any point.

A regular email from Science Oxford with news, activities and resources on our Science Oxford Centre, outreach and training programmes for primary school teachers.

If you are human, leave this field blank.