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Project challenge:

Paper metropolis

Suggested Ages: K – 2nd Grades

Build the vacation destination of your dreams! For this challenge you’ll create the most incredible tourist attraction the world has ever seen…out of paper! You’ll need to BE COURAGEOUS by trying to build your most exciting ideas even if you’re not sure how you’ll make them at first.

Engaging Design-It-Yourself projects to inspire young innovators

This is no ordinary DIY project for kids: It’s a step toward becoming an innovator.

 

Every Galileo Design-It-Yourself Challenge teaches the same techniques and mindsets that professional designers an engineers, artists and chefs use in their work. With skills like these, we believe you can change the world.

Get Involved—For Grown Ups

Materials list:

Help your child find these materials or a close substitute: 

 

  • Cardboard for the ground
  • Some paper (cardstock is best, but printer paper works too)
  • Markers
  • Scissors
  • Tape
  • Glue
  • Optional: Other materials to build with (cardboard tubes, paper plates, straws, etc.)

 

Activity gUIDE:

Refer to these steps to keep young innovators on track as they create:

 

1.  Brainstorm what the tourist attraction will look like.

  • Ask: What kind of attraction is it? A structure like a tower or bridge? Or somewhere people go to have fun, like an amusement park or zoo? 
  • Ask: What makes your attraction so special? Is it the tallest? Does it have special features like secret passageways, tunnels or slides?

 

2.  Build the tourist attraction.

  • Support being courageous—If kids are reluctant to try the idea they imagined during the brainstorm, have them just start making a few of the paper forms shown in the video and then put them together to build part of their idea. Once they get started it’s likely they’ll feel more confident figuring out the rest of their idea.
  • Support with paper folding techniques as necessary. (View options at 1:57)

 

3.  Create a city to go around the tourist attraction.

 

More Ideas:

Every project presents opportunities to add your own twists or extensions. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

 

  • Step it up! Try building things that move as part of the tourist attraction (a spinning ride, a swing, etc.)
  • Share it with others by giving city tours. Like a good tour guide, tell visitors about what makes each part of the city special and interesting!

 

Wrap Up Questions:

Lock in the learning by asking kids these questions about their project and how they practiced the featured Innovator’s Mindset element: 

 

  • Tell me about your attraction/city and what makes it special.
  • Was there a part of your project that you weren’t sure how to make at first? Were you able to be courageous and try anyway? What did you discover once you tried building it?

SHARE!

The last step in the Galileo Innovator’s Process is SHARE. Great learning can come from sharing successes and failures—to solidify your own experience as an innovator and to inspire others.

 

SHARE WITH galileo

 

Take a picture of your Paper Metropolis and share it with the Camp Galileo Anywhere Facebook Community.

 

Share with family and friends

 

Your innovation doesn’t stop with you. Inspire someone else by sharing your project challenge—maybe they’ll try it themselves or maybe your project will give them a new idea.

 

  • Who: someone in your house, a family member, a friend
  • How: in person, on the phone, online
  • When: anytime, starting now!