Activities for a child interested in engineering

[kezzykicks]

My ds is 9 and loves Maths and DT. He has already decided he wants to be an engineer apparently! I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for clubs, resources, activities etc for a child with these interests? He's not great at sport and goes to a very sporty school so want to build his confidence and interests. Thanks

Resources for schools that you can adapt : https://neonfutures.org.uk/

charity that works with schools and does events in holidays etc https://www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk/

Thanks so much. I will look at these!

2 kids here, who are looking at going engineering /maths way.

Does anywhere nearby have a lego club? Often the challanges are engineering based (at ours, anyway!).

If you can throw a bit of money at things, kits like snap circuits, mechano, "build an engine" - Google STEM toys. Games like genius Square. Rubix cube (pyramid, 4x4, dodechahedron... we have a collection!)

With the maths - puzzles like suduko, logic problems. Loads of stuff on NRich. Think it starts for aged 10, but "parallel, by Simon Singh"

Secondary has been the bringer of stem after-school clubs. If there is any realistic choice of secondary, look at their after-school offers.

If his interest is in hands on engineering, he might find a YouTube channel, Cutting Edge Engineering, a good watch. It has some great content about heavy machinery engineering - metalwork / welding etc.

Another that might be of interest is Ambition Strikes, who have done some really interesting construction projects with a CNC plasma table - e.g. putting snow tracks on an SUV, building a camper, building a road to their off-grid property.

More practically, Meccano and technical LEGO might be of interest. If he might be interested in electrical engineering engineering there are lots of projects that can be done with a Raspberry Pi and related add-ons - search Raspbery Pi projects or maker projects. There may be maker groups or similar near you he could join.

Depending where you are, something like Makers Central at the NEC in Birmingham (18/19 May) might be an enjoyable day out?

See if there are any coding clubs nearby? One meets in our local college, they mostly do code clubs after school but also in the holidays offer day sessions covering lego robotics, stop frame animation etc.