Applications Open! Enroll for Summer 2027 at 2026 Tuition Pricing Until Sept 30
Build, test, and explain a solution in this three-week engineering course for elementary students on Fairfield University’s campus.
Course Description
A toothpick tower must stand tall without toppling. A pizza-box oven must capture enough heat to work. Students tackle playful challenges like these by taking objects apart, putting them together, and thinking with their hands. Along the way, they use ideas from science, engineering, math, and art to plan and create original designs.
Students investigate ancient and modern engineering wonders and explore how chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineers solve different problems. Geometry helps them plan structures, while experiments with heat, materials, and physical forces show how a design behaves. Each challenge gives students a chance to build, test, notice what happened, and try again.
For the capstone, students choose a real-world concern connected to one of the engineering branches they explored. They design a solution as a model, prototype, detailed blueprint, or original product, then explain their engineering choices to classmates.
This three-week course is part of Summer Discovery’s Institute for the Gifted program on Fairfield University’s campus in Fairfield, Connecticut. The program is available to commuter students. Beyond class, students take part in campus activities, make new friends, and build confidence trying something new.
What Will You Do?
• Take apart and reassemble objects to investigate how they work
• Explore ancient and modern engineering wonders
• Use geometry to design and build a toothpick tower
• Apply heat-energy concepts while creating a pizza-box oven
• Compare chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering
• Design and present a solution to a real-world concern
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Apply a build-test-improve process to an engineering challenge
• Explain how geometry, heat, materials, or physical forces affect a design
• Present a model, prototype, blueprint, or product that addresses a real-world concern
Students will leave with hands-on challenge work and an original capstone solution that reflects new engineering skills and curiosity to keep creating.
Why Engineering Skills Matter
Engineering helps children turn “What if?” into something they can build and test. Geometry supports planning and balance. Observing heat, materials, and physical forces helps students explain why a design works or needs another try.
Tinkering also teaches persistence. A tower that falls or a model that does not work yet provides useful information. Students practice changing one part, testing again, and explaining what improved. Sharing tools and ideas strengthens collaboration, while presenting a finished solution helps students communicate the thinking behind what they made.
Who Should Attend?
This course is for elementary school students who have completed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade and enjoy building, taking things apart, drawing plans, experimenting, or asking how everyday objects work. It is a good fit for curious makers who want to try several kinds of engineering through hands-on challenges.
No prerequisites are required. Students should be ready to share materials, work with classmates, follow instructions for classroom tools, and keep trying when a design needs improvement.
Students must bring a laptop or compatible tablet, a charger, and compatible headphones.
View the eligibility requirements for the Institute for the Gifted on our FAQ page.
Why Fairfield University?
Fairfield gives elementary students a fun and welcoming first taste of campus life in a coastal Connecticut town along Long Island Sound. The day includes hands-on classes, outdoor courtyard time, shared meals, and opportunities to make friends in a setting that feels active without feeling overwhelming.
The commuter-only Institute for the Gifted has operated at Fairfield for more than two decades. Students try new challenges and build confidence within a clear, structured program day. For families, Fairfield offers an age-appropriate combination of learning, creativity, friendship, routine, and support. Students get the fun of a summer program and the satisfaction of discovering what they can make, solve, and explore next.
Summer Discovery Certificate of Completion
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification of completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive