Ready to get creative? Try out your own design skills with these 21 Design Squad challenges.
You can build all of these projects using materials you can usually find around the house.
Check out more projects from our friends at MAKE Magazine
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Launch It
Design an air-powered rocket that can hit a distant target. Get Started.
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Touch Down
Create a platform that can safely cushion "astronauts" when they land on a table near you. Get Started.
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Roving
Build a rubber band–powered car that can scramble across the room. Get Started.
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Heavy Lifting
Build a cardboard crane and see how heavy a load it can lift. Get Started.
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On Target
Modify a paper cup so it can zip down a line and drop a marble on a target. Get Started. -
Feel the Heat
Heat things up by building a solar hot water heater. Get Started.
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Watercraft
Design and build a boat out of straws and plastic wrap that can hold 25 pennies for at least ten seconds before sinking. Get Started.
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Paper Table
Design and build a table out of newspaper tubes. Make it at least eight inches tall and strong enough to hold a heavy book. Get Started.
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Zip Line
Design and build something that can carry a Ping-Pong ball from the top of a zip line string to the bottom in four seconds (or less!). Get Started.
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Paddle Power
Design and build a boat that paddles itself across a container of water using a rubber band as its power source. Get Started.
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Helping Hand
Design and build a device that lets you grab different objects and drop them into a container that's at least two feet away from you. Get Started.
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Rubber Band Car
Build a car that goes really far, really fast. Oh, by the way, your power source is a rubber band, and your car can only have two wheels. Start your engines! Get Started.
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Motorized Car
Hungry for high performance? Make a car that uses a battery-operated motor to move. Time to put your car into high gear! Get Started.
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High Rise
Build a tower that can support a tennis ball at least 18 inches off the ground while withstanding the wind from a fan. Get Started.
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Kinetic Sculpture
Make a sculpture that is at least six inches tall and has at least two parts that move in the wind. That's what makes it kinetic—it moves. But watch out, wind can also knock it over. So, make sure the tower is sturdy enough to stand up in the wind. Get Started.
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Pop Fly
It's football with a twist. Invent a way to send a Ping-Pong ball flying high enough to catch it. Take some paint stirrers, a wooden spool, and tape. Now, add your foot. Ready, set, launch! Get Started.
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Four Corners
To operate efficiently, machines need their parts to fit precisely and to work together smoothly. Your challenge is to build a machine out of cardboard that runs smoothly and dependably. Here's a hint-be precise, be very precise. Get Started.
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Hidden Alarm
Here's a chance for a little mischief—just a little. Design an alarm that you can turn on and off and is small enough to hide. Make your friends and family ask, "What's buzzing?" Get Started.
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Dance Pad Mania
Build a dance pad that lets you use your feet to sound a buzzer or flash a light. Get Started.
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Kicking Machine
Build a machine that kicks a Ping-Pong ball into a cup lying on its side 12 inches away. Use either (1) a pendulum, (2) a rubber band, or (3) a combination of the two to do this. Get Started.
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Extreme Kicking Machine
Modify your kicking machine. Have it either release the pendulum or rubber band when you're standing three feet away, or have it automatically feed balls into the kicking machine, one after another. Get Started.