Maker’s Studio: Straw Engineering

What You'll Do

Discover the hidden strength—and creative potential—of a simple drinking straw in this weeklong class. Flex your building skills as you design and engineer a trio of straw structures, including a supply organizer, a sculptural bowl and a stunning standing lamp.

Dive into straw construction, investigating the material’s impressive compressive strength as you build a practice structure. Use triangles and double straw lengths to shore up your creation and BE REFLECTIVE to identify which places need reinforcement. Use what you learn to make a paper-and-straw organizer to sort your supplies for the rest of the week (and beyond!). Try your hand at straw sculpture with a shapely, display-ready bowl. Finish the week by designing a dazzling lamp with a symmetrical straw base and frame topped with an overlapping paper shade. BE COLLABORATIVE by building on your classmates’ ideas for the best ways to balance beauty and stability in your luminous, built-to-last lamp.

Note: This weeklong class is more than innovation-igniting projects—it’s an immersive experience full of delightful details, including interactive games, silly traditions, snacks (see Materials, below) and dress-up days designed to build community, bolster confidence and deliver loads of camp-away-from-camp fun.