Activity best for children ages four and up

Velcro was introduced in 1941 when George de Mestral, an engineer, went for a walk with his dog and noticed his dog was covered in burrs that were hard to remove. That night he went to study the burrs and discovered that they could be used for something useful that humans could use in their everyday lives. When engineers use ideas from nature to solve problems, it is called biomimicry. George de Mestral studied this plant by looking at how the burrs were shaped. He created a thing we use to help us stick things together: Velcro! Today, we’ll honor this everyday invention by creating different building sticks that we can stick together to make various shapes and designs.

Grown Ups- Are you looking for more ways to extend your child’s learning? Check out these extension activities to build upon today’s STREAM activity!

Reading Connections

Nature Did It First –  Engineering Through Biomimicry by Karen Ansberry

In this book, kids will learn exactly how engineers are able to come up with new creations by exploring nature.