Egg Drop Challenge with Free Planning Printable

We had so much fun with last year’s egg drop challenge that we had to do it again this year! The egg drop project is such a fun way incorporate critical thinking and problem solving into a fun science activity for kids, and it’s great for a wide variety of ages. Both my kindergartener and my husband’s 4th grade class had a blast with the egg drop challenge this year!

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Have you heard of the Egg Drop Challenge? The challenge is to create a container that will protect an egg from breaking from a high fall. You can make this challenge as simple or complex as you want depending on the amount of time you have and the ages of kids taking part. It’s always one of the most memorable experiences for students each year!

Be sure to check out our previous egg drop challenges for tips and ideas:

• Egg Drop Challenge 2016
• Egg Drop Challenge 2015
• Egg Drop Challenge 2014
• Egg Drop Challenge 2013

Materials for the Egg Drop Challenge

You can pretty much use any materials you want!

Some Materials You Could Use:

• Toilet paper rolls
• Newspaper
• Shoebox
• Popsicle sticks
• Tape
• Rubberbands
• Plastic bag
• String
• Balloons
• Packing peanuts

For last year’s egg drop challenge, my husband’s 4th graders brought in materials from home and constructed their containers in the classroom. This year his students had to use materials only available in the classroom. Here’s some of the egg containers they created!

Lucy and I went through our create box and found some materials to use for our container. We taped our egg in between 4 toilet paper rolls, and tied a sponge to the bottom using some string. We also added a parachute made from a large plastic bag.

Procedure for the Egg Drop Challenge

1. Design and make a container to protect an egg from a high fall.  (You can use this free printable planning sheet when making your egg drop container.)
2. Build your container and place the egg inside.
3. Drop the egg from somewhere high. (Be sure it’s safe and an adult is with you.)
4. After you drop it look and see if your egg cracked or remained intact. (Remember to wash your hands after touching raw egg!)

We decided to drop our egg off our backyard play structure.

Lucy ran to check the egg!

Our egg survived the drop so Lucy decided to try again, this time throwing it up into the air. After it survived this (and a few other tosses), Lucy decided to head to the cement to ensure it would break!

My husband’s 4th graders dropped their eggs from different heights using a ladder out on the blacktop of the school. There were lots of high fives after each drop! Once they were finished they headed back inside to discuss the results.

Questions to Spark More Curiosity & Critical Thinking

Describe your design. Why do you think it will protect the egg? Did it work? Why or why not? How could you improve your design? 

Want to go even further?

Even more activities to inspire creativity and critical thinking for various ages.

• Try  dropping the egg from increasing heights. Does it eventually stop working?
• If your initial design did not work, redesign it and try to improve it. Can you get it work the next time?
• Fill a box with a large amount of materials that could be used for this project. Then allow each child to only choose 3 items from the box to build their design.

Be sure to check out STEAM Kids book and ebook for even more creative STEM and STEAM ideas!