Dyson Engineers: Are You Ready for a Challenge?

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Got a future engineer at home? Here's a fun challenge for the kids that's brought to you by Dyson engineers.

As a global technology company, engineers at Dyson has developed a series of 44 engineering and science challenges for kids that only require common materials found in everyday life. The Challenge Cards are designed for kids pre-school-aged and up and make for the coolest summer activity to do at home.

Get some hands-on practice in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering under the guidance of the Dyson engineers to inspire the next generation's inventor spirit.

Here's what you'll need:

The Challenge Cards use basic household items such as bowls, spoons, A4 paper, paper clips, etc. 

Challenge 1: Design and Build a Helicopter

Design and build a helicopter. Sounds complicated? Not at all! All you need is a sheet of paper, a paper clip and scissors.

This challenge is dedicated to teaching children about energy conservation law, which is a knowledge of dynamics.

Challenge 2: Scared Pepper

In this experiment, kids will learn about water surface tension to find out what makes the pepper disperse.

In addition, Dyson engineers also set up the Challenge Cards "How does it work?" and "Did you know?" sections to help children better understand the principles.

Challenge 3: Floating Paper Clip

Another challenge raised by Dyson engineers that also related to the water surface tension is called Floating Paper Clip. Children would try to make a paper clip float on the water.

If the paper clip is solid, shouldn't it sink when it's in water? Don’t worry, only with the help of a piece of tissue paper, it would be achieved. This experiment further explores the concept of water surface tension and proves that water molecules attract each other.

Challenge 4: Invisible Ink

All you need for this challenge is a lemon, a bowl, water, a paint brush or a cotton swab. This is a quick and simple way to explain what oxidation reaction is through one of life's "mysteries" to the kids with their own invisible ink.

After completing the 4 science challenges, let's get started with more engineering challenges that will test kids' hands-on skills.

Cardboard Chair

In this challenge, kids will learn about structural engineering through drawings and design.

Learn how to evenly distribute weight with this hands-on step-by-step instructional.

Make a Periscope

Let's look at the world from a different perspective with a DIY periscope made with a paper box and two small mirrors.

This challenge teaches kids the basics of light reflection. Sounds pretty cool, huh?

Homemade Water Bomb

The Cardboard Cathedral, formally called the Transitional Cathedral in ChristChurch, New Zealand, is made up of 98 pieces of huge tubular cardboard and is designed to last 50 years. This experiment takes the same concept to make water bombs.

Follow the step-by-step tutorial on how to fold the base of your water bomb. Then, add in the water. It's amazing how much weight the paper can actually hold!

The goal of the Challenge Cards is to bring out younger generations’ natural curiosity about science through everyday life and inspire them into realizing their engineering potential. Through these 44 engineering and science challenges, kids will develop the hands-on ability to think creatively, not to mention, have fun with the whole family as they discover and learn.

If these challenges have put a smile on your face and sparked your kids' curiosity, be sure to follow us for more challenges to come!

To receive the full pdf with all 44 challenges, use the Jingkids WeChat keyword search function. See below for a step-by-step tutorial.

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But, it's not a challenge without prizes!

Jingkids will select 12 outstanding entries and award them the Limited Edition Dyson Engineer Notebook & an official Challenge Cards kit.

The kit contains the necessary materials that will be needed for 4 out of 44 challenges, along with instructional cards.

To participate in the campaign, send text "Dyson Challenge Cards" to the WeChat account back end to access the guide.

How to submit through WeChat Video Channel:

Take a video (or make a photo compilation video) that's 1-10 mins in length and upload it to your WeChat video channel. Be sure to select "戴森小小工程师挑战" in the event link. See below for a how-to step-by-step.

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How to submit through WeChat Moments:

Add the WeChat account below. Post your work on your WeChat moments with the topic #DysonChallengeCardsCampaign and @菁小京 then send a screenshot of your post to the account.

The Challenge Cards Campaign will run from now until midnight on June 30, 2022. Winners will be selected based on the quality of the videos and contacted directly through WeChat by Jingkids. If a winner does not reply within 3 days of contact, he/she forfeits their right to the prize.

Rules

- This campaign is a joint event and will be running simultaneously on multiple platforms, please only submit it once.
- All entries must be original. Any copyright infringement will be disqualified.
- By uploading your work the entrant gives Dyson permission to use the work for distribution, promotion, operation, and brand promotion.

Images: Courtesy of Dyson

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