Engineering Week - Teddy Bear Fort

Engineering techniques are used in our everyday lives when we solve problems. Checkout the kids in this video, from Peep and the Big Wide World, solving the problem of creating shelter for their teddy bears. They decided to use cardboard and tape to build their structures, and then they find ways to shape and connect everything to create a stable structure. Along the way, they consider what they already know about how houses and other structures are built and use this knowledge to shape the design of their teddy bear fort. As a final step, they test their design with the garden hose to see how well the house protects the bears. What changes do you think they could make so the stuffed animals don’t get wet?

When building your own Teddy Bear Fort, you can use similar materials to the video. Or, you can use items you have on hand like chairs, pillows, and blankets, books, game boxes, etc. Get creative while building, and depending on the weather you can build inside or outside.

Supplies:

• Cardboard boxes
• Toilet paper or paper towel tubes
• Tape
• Scissors
• Or, other items you have on hand
• Teddy Bear
• Marker and crayons (optional)

Activity Directions:

1. With your children, select the materials to use for their Teddy Bear Forts
2. Prepare a space to build
3. Start building
4. Test the structures sturdiness and strength while building to make sure it can hold the Teddy Bear
5. If it can’t hold the Teddy Bear, then fix the design, strengthen the structure, and try again
6. Once the house is sound, decorate the Teddy Bear Fort

Peep and the Big Wide World | A House for Teddy Bear downloaded from PBS LearningMedia. Rights to use this asset do not expire. ©2005-2006 WGBH Educational Foundation. All rights reserved.