Engineering Explorers

“I’ve got some acorns and some water!" announces five-year-old Gabriela, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Who wants to make potions with me?”

“What’s a potion?” asks Amara as she jumps off of her swing and heads over to see what Gabriela has in mind.

“You mix things up, like a recipe,” Gabriela explains. “Sometimes the potion changes color or gets thick and goopy. You never know what will happen until you mix stuff up and find out!”

Amara’s eyes widen. “I’ll play! What do we need?”

“Water, walnuts, flowers, acorns . . . anything you want!” says Gabriella with a grin.

And just like that, the hunt for containers, loose parts, and a water source is on.

Artist and architect Simon Nicholson introduced the concept of loose parts in his 1971 Landscape Architecture magazine article, "The Theory of Loose Parts: How NOT to Cheat Children." In the article, he noted that, “Children learn most readily and easily in a laboratory-type environment where they can experiment, enjoy, and find out things for themselves."

By giving children the freedom to design their own experiments and solve problems with materials that they find in the environment, we empower them to become curious, resilient learners—ready to explore the world through the lenses of science and engineering.

What started out as a casual outdoor play session for Gabriela and Amara has become a learning adventure in nature's laboratory!

When children gather materials like flowers, rocks, and water to create their “potions” and “concoctions,” they’re diving headfirst into hands-on engineering—exploring materials and making observations that help them understand how the world works.

Although young children may not use the technical language of engineers or chemists, their experiments reflect some of the most essential skills in both fields. They’re not just mixing things up for fun—they’re beginning to think like scientists and engineers.

“What if I added . . . ?” Gabriela pauses as she glances over at the pile of natural materials that she has gathered. She loves to experiment and make small changes in her mixtures to see how they affect the outcome.

When Gabriela mixes dry ingredients with water, she is investigating how different materials interact. She adds a bit more water to see if the mixture becomes smoother and introduces sand to see if it absorbs moisture or makes the mixture more solid.

“I have lots and lots of cups of water!" exclaims Amara. "Can we start mixing now?” As the children gather and mix their ingredients, they begin to experiment with proportions, quantities, and measurements.

While they might not be using formal measurements, these budding scientists and engineers are already experimenting with ratios. As they combine water with sand or flowers, they can see firsthand how materials behave depending on how much of each material is added.

“Let’s add a little more water and see what happens to the flowers," Gabriela suggests. "Do you think they will float or sink?”

This playful experimentation helps the children gain a rudimentary understanding of math and science concepts that will lay the foundation for future STEM investigations.

Water play is another activity that will inspire young children to engage in scientific inquiry. Water is a sensory experience that connects children to fundamental scientific concepts such as flow, movement, cohesion, and measurement.

As children pour and splash water and watch it spill over the sides of a cup, they’re investigating how water flows and changes depending on the surface it’s on, how it moves from one place to another, and how much space it fills.

Regardless of their age or vocabulary, children at all stages of development can benefit from water play as they experiment and learn from one another.

The next time you see a group of young children making concoctions with natural materials, remember that they are engaging in real scientific inquiry. They are experimenting, observing, measuring, and testing out ideas and predictions—all while having fun.

Whether children are creating a gooey mess or watching water disappear into sand, these "chemistry experiments" will yield early insights into STEM concepts that will set the stage for a lifetime of exploration, discovery, and problem-solving.

Every time children explore and experiment together outdoors, they are also developing important life skills and traits such as concentration, patience, perseverance, resilience, collaboration, and cooperation—qualities that will be essential to their success as the engineers, scientists, innovators, and problem-solvers of tomorrow!